Humic acids are complex, partly macromolecular, yellow-brownish substances
occurring in soils, waters and sediments. In order to shed some light on th
eir molecular structure, crop humic acids were cleaved by alkaline hydrolys
is (KOH), The products were fractionated by thin layer chromatography to gi
ve mono-alcohols which were analysed as acetate derivatives by gas chromato
graphy coupled to mass spectrometry, Linear alcohols, sterols, stanols and
plant-derived triterpenoid alcohols were identified by co-injection of pure
standards and by comparison with literature data. These findings imply tha
t alcohols could have been incorporated into the humic matrix by esterifica
tion with carboxylic acids. Furthermore, the presence of stanols as hydroge
nated counterparts of sterols suggests that a process of hydrogenation is o
perating in soils.