Determination of nicotine in the soil mixed with tobacco powder as fertilizer

The nicotine content of the tobacco powder completely degrades in one week when it is added to a non manured soil. If some organic manure is added to the soil so as to sensibly increase the microbial flora, then nicotine degrades in less than twenty-four hours. In sterilized soil nicotine content is constant over the time because of the total absence of microorganism. In the determination of the nicotine in the soil, accurate analytical results can be obtained by adding methanol to the soil sample at the moment of the sampling. Methanol degrades the enzymatic systems causing a soil sterilization and avoids, therefore, the degradation of the alkaloid. The extracted nicotine is analyzed by means of high performance liquid chromatography in a rapid and accurate manner.