ABSTRACT
Chromatographic methods are the most important methods of proximate analysis and they are widely used. They permit the separation of the components of complex mixtures and in some conditions, define, quantify and identify the compound of interest. Chromatographic methods are separation techniques based on different chemical and physical principles (partitioning, adsorption, ion exchange, size exclusion or ion-pair formation). They are classified according to a lot of possibilities depending on the mechanism of interactions, the physical state of both phases or the modes of the mobile phase migration such as elution or development chromatography. This chapter is an introduction to these methods.
