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Comparison of different methods for determining lignin concentration and quality in herbaceous and woody plant residues

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Abstract

Aims

Acid detergent lignin (ADL), acetyl bromide (AcBr), and cupric oxide oxidation (CuO) were compared as methods for determining lignin concentration and quality in plant residues.

Methods

These three methods were used to analyze 27 plant residues from different groups of species, i.e., legumes, crucifers, herbs, grasses, and trees.

Results

Median lignin concentrations of the 27 plant materials were 4.5% ADL and 6.0% AcBr lignin, significantly exceeding the median of 2.1% CuO lignin. ADL concentrations varied from 0.8 to 27.0%; those of AcBr and CuO lignin ranged from 1.8 to 12.2% and from 0.6 to 9.7%, respectively. AcBr lignin showed a significant negative, non-linear relationship with total N. In addition, the relationship of ADL and CuO data was negatively affected by total N.

Conclusion

The ADL method is simple and well reproducible, and large datasets are available for comparison. The AcBr procedure is fast, with less interference from non-lignin products than ADL. The CuO method is not interfered with by any other organic component in the plant material and gives additional information on the composition of the lignin. However, the release of phenolic units may be incomplete.

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Acknowledgements

The technical assistance of Heike Maennicke, Gabi Dormann, Christiane Jatsch, and Sabine Ahlers is highly appreciated. We are grateful to Eberhardt Kölsch, Christine Wachendorf, Anja Sawallisch, and Gabriele Lehmann for their help and advice. The project was supported by the Research Training Group 1397 “Regulation of soil organic matter and nutrient turnover in organic agriculture” of the German Research Foundation (DFG).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Soil Biology and Plant Nutrition, University of Kassel, Nordbahnhofstr. 1a, 37213, Witzenhausen, Germany

    Sibylle Faust & Rainer Georg Joergensen

  2. Soil Science and Soil Protection, Institute of Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, von-Seckendorff-Platz 3, 06120, Halle, Germany

    Klaus Kaiser

  3. Soil Biogeochemistry, Institute of Agronomy and Nutritional Sciences, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, von-Seckendorff-Platz 3, 06120, Halle, Germany

    Katja Wiedner & Bruno Glaser

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  1. Sibylle Faust
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Correspondence to Sibylle Faust.

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Faust, S., Kaiser, K., Wiedner, K. et al. Comparison of different methods for determining lignin concentration and quality in herbaceous and woody plant residues. Plant Soil 433, 7–18 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-018-3817-0

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