Decaying waste, such as decomposing organisms and manure, are full of organic nitrogen. Through mineralization, this organic material is broken down into inorganic compounds by decomposers, such as fungi and bacteria.

Ammonification is a particular kind of mineralization involved in thenitrogen cycle。在这个过程中含氮有机物,这样as nucleic acids and amino acids, are converted to ammonia.

Organic matter → NH₃

Figure 1:An overview of ammonification