THE MONOSACCHARIDE COMPOSITION OF POLYSACCHARIDES IN ANDO SOILS

Abstract

Summary The monosaccharide composition of Ando soils, which originate from volcanic ash and have high organic matter content (8–21% carbon), was quite different from that of non‐volcanic ash soils (1.2–1.9% carbon), being richer in mannose, fucose and ribose, whereas there was less glucose in cellulose‐like form, arabinose, xylose and rhamnose. The Ando soils were also characterized by a lower percentage of organic carbon in the form of saccharide (4.4–7.4%) in comparison with non‐volcanic ash soils (10.5%), though the former soils contain a greater amount of saccharides. The monosaccharide composition of Ando soils was unrelated to the vegetation, land usage, or climatic conditions, and is presumed to be a soil characteristic resulting from the preferential accumulation of microbial polysaccharides.