The objectives of this work were to evaluate the relationship between phosphate adsorption in different mineral soil constituents of the clay fraction to determine the P recovery rate by the Mehlich-1, Mehlich-3, Bray-1 and CaCl2 0.01 mol L-1 extractants as a function of incubation time of soil as well as to compare this rate with physical and chemical soil characteristics. In five soil samples five doses of P based on the maximum phosphate adsorption capacities (MPAC) of the soil, were

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... corresponding to 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.8 and 1.0 level. The samples were incubated for 90, 60, 30, 15 and 0.5 days. The experiment consisted of a 5 x 4 x 5 factorial (five doses, four extractants and five different periods of incubation time) in five different soils, all distributed in blocks, with three replicates. The P content in soil was determined by the Mehlich-1, Mehlich-3, Bray-1 and CaCl2 0.01 mol L-1 extractants. The soil characteristics that best correlated with the recovery rate of applied P were the remaining P (rem-P) and the MPAC. Soils high in gibbsite presented the highest P adsorption. Soils possessing high MPAC and the low rem-P presented higher reversibility for the non-labile P (residual P) for smaller time periods.