AbstractChromatographic analysis of amino sugars in soil hydrolysates revealed the occurrence of a wide variety of compounds that gave color reactions typical of amino sugars when analyzed with the classical Elson‐Morgan and indole‐HCl colorimetric methods. The presence in soil of up to 11 amino sugars in addition to glucosamine and galactosamine was indicated. Mannosamine and muramic acid were positively identified and provisional identifications were made for gulosamine and fucosamine. Considerable variation was observed in amino sugar distribution patterns for soils of diverse types. The distribution of amino sugars in a humic acid preparation was similar to that of the original soil. A soil polysaccharide contained amino sugars.