A peat is organic soil containing more than 18% organic carbon. It can be differed into some types based on the color, texture, decomposition degree, fiber content, Ph, and the plant part. Color is an important parameter on describing peat. By seeing the color we can differ peat and non-peat organic soil. Color identification is based on Munsell Soil Color Chart 10 YR. Non-peat soil usually has grey to the light brown as color, of spectrum number 6 according to the Munsell diagram. Peat color is usually reddish brown to blackish brown and falls in spectrum number 4 to 5.
There are some peat classifications. One of them is Esterle’s classification (1990). He classified peat into 3 types, namely fibric, hemic and sapric. They are identified by their fragment abundance. However, it is quite difficult to determine the fragment abundance in the field. There is a simple method to differ peat type, i.e. by seeing the difference of their color and doing a squeezing test. Fibric peat will release relatively clear to tea-colored water upon squeezing. Hemic will produce murky or brown to blackish water when it is squeezed, while sapric will produce gelatinous texture upon squeezing. Non-peat organic-rich sediment will leave smeary or muddy-like feeling upon squeezing in palms.

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