Organic Acids and Diffusive Flux of Organic and Inorganic Phosphorus in Sandy-Loam and Clayey Latosols

This study evaluated the effects of organic acids on the diffusive flux of phosphorus (DFP) along time. Treatments were a factorial 2?×?2?×?2?×?2?×?5 design: two soils (clayey Red Latosol and a sandy-loam Red-Yellow Latosol), two organic acids (citric acid, CA, and humic acid, HA), and two phosphorus (P) sources monopotassium phosphate (KH₂PO₄) and inositol hexaphosphate (IHP)] either with or without heating (100 °C) of the soil. The soil plus treatments, in all combinations, were placed in contact with an anion exchange resin and the P in the resin was measured after 2, 4, 6, 10, and 15 days. The DFP was greater when the soils were treated with CA than when treated with HA. Citric acid was more effective in increasing the DFP from KH₂PO₄, whereas HA was the organic ligand that promoted a larger DFP when the source was IHP.