In Brazil, the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Provision is responsible for regulating specifications, warranties, tolerance thresholds, registration, packing and labeling of substrates for plants. In the INs (Normative Instruction) n.º 14, 17 and 31 are included the requirements for pH, electrical conductivity (EC), density, water holding capacity (WHC10) and humidity. The acceptable deviations are ±0.5 for pH, ±0.3 dS m-1 for EC, ±15% for density, up to -10% w/w for WHC and up to +10% for humidity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the pH, EC, density, humidity and WHC10, of several substrates for plants, during a six months period of storage, thus, providing technical assistance to Brazilian regulations. Nine commercial substrates were used, both organic and inorganic. Some deviations from the maximum thresholds required by Brazilian regulation were observed for pH, EC, WHC10 and humidity in 5, 4, 6 and 2 samples, respectively. Density showed values within the range permitted by Brazilian regulations. WHC10 was the variable showing the greatest restriction regarding the Brazilian regulation, followed by pH. It is suggested that tolerance should be increased to -15% for WHC10 (w/w) and pH value to ±1.0. In addition, producers should reassess the raw materials constituting the substrates or of the storage time.
standardization; characterization; quality; culture media
