Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) allow sensitive differentiation of biological soil quality

Understanding the change in function of biological community under different soil conditions is key to effective quality monitoring and mitigation degradation. Current measures suffer from drawbacks with most techniques having high expense, low throughput or a narrow focus on one component community. The aim this study was assess use volatilomics as method profile microbial compare technique phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) profiling measure quality. An agricultural grassland (Eutric Cambisol) subjected range stresses replicate laboratory mesocosms. Treatments included imposition hypoxia/anoxia by flooding freshwater saltwater presence absence plant residues. volatile organic compound (VOC) PLFA each treatment then compared unamended We hypothesized that VOC fingerprint would be highly responsive changes metabolic status/functioning thus provide complementary approach PLFAs for evaluating health. also have greater discriminatory power than determining differences between treatments. A headspace solid phase microextraction (HSSPME) coupled gas chromatography quadrupole-time flight mass spectrometry (GC/Q-TOFMS) used analyse broad spectrum VOCs produced soil. Across all treatments 514 unique peaks were detected. Overall, showed sensitivity analysis separating Eighteen individual identified which primarily responsible separation (e.g. indole, α-ionone, isophorone, 3-octanone, p-cresol, 2-ethyl-phenol). Anaerobic soils amended residues greatest other treatments, differentiation associated ten VOCs. anaerobic significant reduction number emitted but an increase total emissions. In conclusion, our findings evidence rapidly respond therefore hold great potential novel functionally relevant diagnostic