The input of organic residues associated with the humification process promotes improvement of soil properties and enables the sustainability of the production system. Aside from supplying the coffee with nutrients, pulse crops can improve the quality of soil organic matter by forming humic substances. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of green manures legumes on the quality of humic substances in soils under coffee under two environmental conditions in the region of Zona da Mata, in Minas Gerais. The species forage peanut, calopo, stylosanthes, velvetbean and spontaneous species were grown for four years on two family farms. After four years, soil was sampled and the humic substances were extracted and purified to obtain fulvic acids (FA) and humic acids (HA). The elemental sample composition (CHNO analyzer), UV-visible, infrared and thermogravimetry of the purified material were analyzed. The results showed that HA have a higher molecular weight, hydrophobicity, condensation, and aromatic compounds with higher C content, providing greater structural stability than FA. The humic substances in the environment facing south, with lower light incidence, lower temperatures and higher humidity, were structurally more stable and decay-resistant than the humic substances extracted from soil northwest-oriented soil surfaces. In the treatment with calopo, FA contained low C and high O levels, characterizing compounds of lower structural stability than FA in the treatments with stylosanthes, velvetbean and spontaneous species. In HA, the use of legumes showed similar results.
smallholder; legume; fulvic acids; humic acids; humic substances
