What are humic substances?
The initial breakdown of organic and mineral materials by the soil microorganisms produces mostly simple chemical compounds. When the conditions are aerobic, most of these chemical compounds exist in the oxidized state. Humus, the remaining and more or less stable material, goes through a process in which the small ‘bits and pieces’ join together to form complex, chained structures called “polymers”. Chemically, they are poly-phenolic acids. The synthesis or making of these polymers is partly the result of the enzymes from the soil microorganisms and partly the result of soil chemistry. “Humic, Fulvic, and Microbial Balance: Organic Soil Conditioning” by William R. Jackson says, “During humification, all cellular makeup undergoes a pattern of transformations, modifications, and structural re-arrangements, resulting in highly complex polymeric humic compounds. Although some of these modifications are chemical, most are bio-chemical and develop through the enormous numbers of enzymes rel
