Study of Earthworm Metabolites Using GC–MS and FT-IR Based Approaches

Earthworms, by their soil-dwelling nature, feeding and burrowing activity in the soil, are known to increase soil fertility and are also referred as nature's plough by Charles Darwin. They ingest organic matter from the soil, are exposed to microbes and pollutants, and excrete casts in the soil adding to the soil fertility. Although earthworms are essential for soil mineralisation process, their metabolism and impact on environment are not well studied. In this study, we investigated the gut voided biochemical constituents of Lampito mauritii (L. mauritii) and analyzed by FT-IR and GC–MS studies. The results indicated significant findings, including identification of unique biochemical components with 16 major compounds in L. mauritii with a significant peak at retention time 4.09 and other peaks at 4.13, 4.27, 4.53, 4.88, 5.44, 7.21 and 16.49 revealed by GC–MS analysis Our study highlights the expression of unique compounds in the earthworm. It emphasises that metabolism may play a predominant role in altering ingested components of soil organic matter, and the earthworm casts may have a positive impact on the environment.