FULVIC ACID CONCENTRATION ANALYSIS

FulvicForce product is regularly tested for fulvic acid concentration by SGS South Africa (Pty) Ltd. SGS is the world’s leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company.

According to SGS Laboratory Analysis Report, FulvicForce product contains up to 15% of fulvic acid. While we strive to maintain the consistency of our product, some variations may occur between different product batches, as the natural raw materials are used in the manufacturing of our product. However, the quality of fulvic acid always begins with the quality of the raw base material.

It has to be stressed that humic substances are difficult to characterize because of their inherent heterogeneous nature and, currently, there is no industry standard for procedural analysis of humic and fulvic acids.

A molecule of fulvic acid comprises of several different types of functional groups, including phenolic, carboxyl, methoxyl, and hydroxyl varieties. The molecules vary a great deal with respect to both number and type of functional groups and also with respect to size.  A sample would typically contain a range of different sizes of molecules. Furthermore, there are too many unknown acid chains, minerals, vitamins, amino acids, organic matter, etc., coexisting within the fulvic realm, that would have to be split off (removed) before testing, leaving only the actual fulvic molecules themselves for quantification. Therefore different test methods often yield different results.

The following testing methods are the most commonly used, each with its own set of advantages and disadvantages:

  • Colorimetric – in this test the substance is exposed to light and the measurement comes from a reading of how much light is absorbed by the sample.
  • CDFA, also known as the California method – this method separates the humic and the fulvic. It then discards the fulvic solution and measure all the remaining material, which includes the inorganic ash in with the humic.
  • USGS/IHSS, also called the classical method – this method is used and endorsed by both the United States Geological Service and the International Humic Substance Society. It separates and measures both the humic and fulvic fractions while also going through rigorous purification steps to remove all insolubles, salt reagents and other materials that are not humic or fulvic.
  • Verploegh and Brandvold method, or V&B method – it is based on the classical method. This is the same as the classical test except that it goes through almost no purification steps.

REFERENCES

  • California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA). 1999. Humic acid method.
  • Hayes, M. H. B. and C. L. Graham. 2000. Procedures for the isolation and fractionation of humic substances. In: E. A. Ghabbour and G. Davies (eds.), Humic Substances: VersatileComponents of Plants, Soils and Water. Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, UK. p106.
  • Mehlich, A. 1984. Photometric determination of humic matter in soils, a proposed method. Comm. Soil Sci. Plant Anal. 15(12):1417-1422.
  • Stevenson, F. J. 1982. Humus Chemistry. Genesis, Composition, Reactions. John Wiley and Sons, New York. 443 p.
  • Schnitzer, M. 1982. Organic matter characterization. pp. 581-594. In (A. L. Page, R. H.Miller and D. R. Keeny, eds.) Methods of Soil analysis Part 2. Chemical and Microbiological Properties. American Society of Agronomy No. 9 Part 2.