Crude proteins Hemicelluloses Cellulose Fats, waxes, etc. Lignins Humus is a heterogenous mixture of complex organic compounds resulting from biochemical degrdation and synthesis .
Humus is made up of a humic group and a nonhumic group .
Recalcitrant - a term used to describe compounds resistant to decomposition. Soil humus is made up of recalcitrant organic compounds. Knowing the impact of litter decomposition on available N is therefore very important. In general, for every gram of carbon used for microbial biomass, another two grams are respired off as CO 2 .