Electrostatic method to separate roots from soil

Complete removal of roots from soil samples is a prerequisite for most of the chemical and biological analyses. A simple electrostatic method of separating roots from sieved, largely mineral soil substrates was optimized and examined by the addition of ¹⁴C labeled fine roots to sandy, silt loamy and clay loamy samples. Depending on soil texture, between 40% and 50% of fine roots can be removed from 100 g of sieved soil in less than 10 minutes. The root‐free soil substrate and the extracted roots can be used for analyzes or experiments immediately after the separation. The proportion of the mineral particles remaining in the root fraction depends on duration of separation, distance between the charged plate and the sample, and soil texture. The proportion of separated mineral particles is about 90%—95% (w/w) in sandy and 70%—85% in silt loamy and clay loamy substrates. The electrostatic method of root separation may take place before the analysis of C_t and N_t contents, and is suitable for soil samples preparation for incubation experiments.