Soil saccharide studies

General Conclusions from Studies of Soil Saccharides 25... 

Interest in soil saccharides, and especially in soil polysaccharides, is relatively recent, and their studies may be considered to be in the modern era of soil organic matter research. Martin (1945,1946) established that the slimy bacterial products... 

There is a need to resume studies of soil saccharides and peptides. These can compose as much as 30-40% (when account is taken of the compositions of humin materials). Much is known about how polysaccharides of known structures interact with soil colloids, but it has not been possible as yet to know in sufficient detail the structures of the polysaccharides that persist in the soil. Hence we do not know the mechanisms of their binding to soil mineral colloids. The same applies for the peptide materials, though it is clear that polysaccharides and peptides have important roles in soil structure formation and stabilization. 

The book by Cheshire (1979) has reviewed studies of soil polysaccharides, and he and his colleagues have contributed significantly to our awareness of the subject. Chapters by Hayes and Swift (1978), Cheshire and Hayes (1990), and Clapp et al. (2005) have reviewed relevant aspects of the chemistry and compositions of polysaccharides and have discussed the reactivities of saccharides in the soil environment. 

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