The reaction between water‐soluble tree leaf constituents and ferric oxide in relation to podzolisatlon

Abstract

AbstractSterile aqueous extracts of tree leaves dissolve ferric oxide, and the reaction products are sorbed on residual ferric oxide. Extracts of autumn‐fallen leaves and needles of oak, beech and larch, and picked Scots pine needles, were allowed to react with ferric oxide under conditions in which both the solution and sorption processes may be assumed to go to completion, and the effect on the composition of the extracts was determined. Under these conditions the net excess of solution of iron over sorption was quite small, and polyphenols, sugars, α‐amino acids and carboxylic acids were retained on the ferric oxide.