Scientia Agricola (Jan 2003)
Exchangeable aluminum evaluation in acid soils
Abstract
One of the main factors limiting agricultural production in tropical climate regions is mainly related to the presence of exchangeable aluminum (Al3+) in highly weathered acid soils. Four methods of Al3+ determination extracted with neutral 1 mol L¹ KCl solution were evaluated: three colorimetric methods (aluminon plus ascorbic acid, and eriochrome cyanine R by FIA) and the usual titrimetric method with back-titration. Surface samples from 20 soils of different Brazilian regions, with active acidity (0.01 mol L¹ CaCl2 pH) ranging from very high to medium (3.82 to 5.52), were used. The variance analysis revealed significant interaction among Al3+ determination methods and soil. Mean methods comparisons within each soil (Tukey, P 10 mmol c dm³. Among colorimetric methods, in operational terms, the eriochrome with FIA method presented analytical performance up to 50 samples per hour, easiness and sensibility for routine Al analysis in soil samples. However, due to the specificity, the titration/back-titration method should be used, despite the moroseness, when the Al3+ ions are the objective.
