Analysis of the Mineral Content of Wood Ashes of Selected Plants Used for Soil Amendments in Eritrea

Goitom Kfle *

Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Eritrea Institute of Technology, Asmara, Eritrea

Tesfamichael Haile

Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Eritrea Institute of Technology, Asmara, Eritrea

Mussie Sium

Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Eritrea Institute of Technology, Asmara, Eritrea

Semere Debretsion

SGS, Mineral Assay Laboratory, Bisha Mining Share Company, Asmara, Eritrea

Henok Abrham

Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Eritrea Institute of Technology, Asmara, Eritrea

Martha Ghirmay

Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Eritrea Institute of Technology, Asmara, Eritrea

Helen Tsegay

Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Eritrea Institute of Technology, Asmara, Eritrea

Filimon Nega

Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Eritrea Institute of Technology, Asmara, Eritrea

*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.


Abstract

Wood ash  contains  all  the  components  of  wood  in  a  concentrated  form,  except  for  carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen which evaporate during the burning of wood. The mineral concentration of the ashes from seven selected trees namely Acacia seyal, Acacia etbaica, Acacia albida, Acacia tortilis, Leucaena leucocephala, Olea europea, Musa sapientum found in Eritrea was studied. Most of the trees are commonly used for household fire in the rural and urban communities of Eritrea. The purpose of this study was to assess the levels of minerals and thus determine the application of the ashes of the selected trees for soil amendment. Moderately sized tree branches were ashed in a furnace at 600ºC for 6 hours and the resulting ash was homogenized, filtered and digested. Aqua-regia was used to digest the ash samples and ICP-OES was employed to analyse the levels of the elements. Based on the analysis, the digestion method was found to be effective in recovery of minerals from the wood ashes. The percentage of ashes produced from the trees, except Musa sapientum, ranged from 0.88 up to 4.66. The results of the study revealed that the ashes of the selected plants contained various concentrations of the minerals vital for soil enrichments. The major elements found in the wood ashes include Ca, K, Mg, P, S, Fe and Na. The level of the major elements in this report was consistent with previously published reports. Moreover, the concentration of heavy metals in the studied plant ashes was below the permissible limits and therefore the ashes can be employed as liming agents and sources of important nutrients in soil enrichment. This is a very first report related to the levels of minerals in wood ashes in the country and thus can be used as reference for further detailed studies.

Keywords: Wood ash, digestion, mineral concentration, soil amendment.C


How to Cite

Kfle, Goitom, Tesfamichael Haile, Mussie Sium, Semere Debretsion, Henok Abrham, Martha Ghirmay, Helen Tsegay, and Filimon Nega. 2018. “Analysis of the Mineral Content of Wood Ashes of Selected Plants Used for Soil Amendments in Eritrea”. International Journal of Plant & Soil Science 25 (6):1-12. https://doi.org/10.9734/IJPSS/2018/45727.