Currently, part of the soil testing laboratories of Brazil determine exchangeable Al, Ca, and Mg in a 1 mol L-1 KCl soil extract and exchangeable sodium and potassium in the Mehlich-1 soil extract, which is also used for phosphorus extraction. Other laboratories use an anion exchange resin for P and also determine Ca, Mg and K in the same extract, while Al and Na cannot be determined. For this reason, it was considered a good opportunity to evaluate the simultaneous extraction of the five exchangeable cations: Al, Ca, Mg, K, and Na in a 1 mol L-1 NH4Cl solution, and compare the results with those obtained with potassium chloride and Mehlich-1 extractants. The soil samples used were from Northeastern Brazil fruit growing region and from the Embrapa Environment Experimental Station, located in Jaguariúna County, São Paulo State. The employed methods were: (a) simultaneous extraction of the five cations with a 1 mol L-1 NH4Cl; (b) extraction of Ca, Mg, and Al with 1 mol L-1 KCl; and (c) extraction of K and Na with the Mehlich-1 solution. The NH4Cl solution has a higher Mg extraction capacity than KCl, but they present similar Ca and Al extraction ability. The NH4Cl solution extracted more K and Na than the Mehlich-1 solution. It is concluded that the ammonium chloride solution is a convenient alternative for the extraction of exchangeable Al, Ca, Mg, K, and Na from soils.
soil exchangeable cations; extractants; aluminum determination; Brazilian soils
