Abstract
Eleven actinomycete melanins were characterized by elemental and functional group and infrared analysis. A soil humic acid from a Brazilian topsoil, a darkred latosol under savanna grassland, analysed previously, was used for comparative purposes. C, N, total acidity, COOH, and phenolic OH contents were within the ranges reported for soil humic acids and fungal melanins. Compared to the soil humic acid, the actinomycete melanins showed greater detail, indicative of higher aliphaticity. Most of these were, in varying degrees, similar to the type III IR spectra of humic acids, which are characteristically high in proteinaceous material, and with variable amounts of polysaccharides. The exceptions were two melanin spectra that showed more resemblance to the humic acid from the dark-red latosol, which belongs to the type I spectra of soil humic acids, a category that includes most soil humic acids. The probable participation of melanic actinomycetes in the formation of humic polymers in discussed.
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