Role of Enzymes in Maintaining Soil Health

Enzymes are the vital activators in life processes, likewise in the soil they are known to play a substantial role in maintaining soil health and its environment. The enzymatic activity in the soil is mainly of microbial origin, being derived from intracellular, cell-associated or free enzymes. A unique balance of chemical, physical, and biological (including microbial especially enzyme activities) components contribute to maintaining soil health. Evaluation of soil health therefore requires indicators of all these components. Healthy soils are essential for the integrity of terrestrial ecosystems to remain intact or to recover from disturbances, such as drought, climate change, pest infestation, pollution, and human exploitation including agriculture (Ellert et al. 1997). Deterioration of soil, and thereby soil health, is of concern for human, animal, and plant health because air, groundwater, and surface water consumed by humans, can be adversely affected by mismanaged and contaminated soil (Singer and Ewing 2000). As soil is the part of the terrestrial environment and supports all terrestrial life forms, protection of soil is therefore of high priority and a thorough understanding of soil enzymes activities is a critical factor in assuring that soil remains healthy. A better understanding of the role of this soil enzymes activity in maintaining the soil health will potentially provide a unique opportunity for an integrated biological assessment of soils due to their crucial role in several soil biological activities, their ease of measurement, and their rapid response to changes in soil management. Although there have been extensive studies on soil enzymes, little has been reported on their roles in maintaining soil health. Thus, it is authoritative to