Ammonium Content Determination by Different Analytical Methods in the Manure with Different Additives and Its Change During Storage

Irmantas Parašotas (), Violeta Juškienė, Alvyra Šlepetienė and Gitana Kadžienė
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Irmantas Parašotas: Institute of Agriculture, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, LT-58344 Akademija, Lithuania
Violeta Juškienė: Animal Science Institute, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, LT-82317 Baisogala, Lithuania
Alvyra Šlepetienė: Institute of Agriculture, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, LT-58344 Akademija, Lithuania
Gitana Kadžienė: Animal Science Institute, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, LT-82317 Baisogala, Lithuania

Agriculture, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Ammonium (NH 4 + ) content is one of the most important parameters in manure assessment. The accurate and rapid determination of this inorganic form of nitrogen is therefore important not only in agronomy, when calculating fertilizer application rates, but also in scientific studies, for example, in the study of greenhouse gas emissions from stored manure. There is not enough research to assess which analytical method is the most appropriate for the determination of (NH 4 + ) in manure with additives such as perlite, vermiculite, or peat. We compared three analytical methods for NH 4 + determination: distillation, ionometry, and spectrophotometry. The results showed that the distillation method had the lowest average coefficient of variation ( Cv ) between the two laboratory replicates, with a Cv = 0.77%, while the ionometry and spectrophotometry methods had average Cv values of 1.83% and 3.97%, respectively. A lower coefficient of variation indicates that the analytical method is less sensitive to various interferences, resulting in more reliable data. Experimental data also show that storing manure for 40 days reduces the NH 4 + content from about 21,000 ppm to about 7000 ppm and that the use of additives such as perlite, vermiculite, or peat did not significantly affect NH 4 + retention compared with control samples (without additives). Based on the results of our study, we recommend using the distillation method for the determination of NH 4 + in the manure with additives in agrochemical and scientific laboratories.

Keywords: ammonium; cattle manure; manure additives; manure storage; distillation; ionometry; spectrophotometry (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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