A comparison of the effects of air-drying and acetone dehydration on soil enzyme activities

Abstract

The effects of air-drying or acetone dehydration on the activities of invertase, amylase, cellulase, xylanase, urease, protease, phosphatase and sulphatase in nine New Zealand soils from pastures were determined. Generally, air-drying of the soils reduced activities, with losses ranging from slight for sulphatase to very large for protease. For most of the enzymes, acetone dehydration generally resulted in smaller losses of activity than did air-drying; exceptions were invertase and all but two enzymes in the two sandy soils with lowest clay contents. In contrast to the other activities, the activity of urease was generally increased by both drying treatments and that of sulphatase by acetone dehydration. The effects of 6 weeks' storage at 4°C on the enzyme activities of field-moist, air-dried and acetone-dehydrated soils were also assessed. Generally, field-moist storage was best for preserving the original activity, primarily because of the initial losses caused by both drying processes.