The What, When, and How of Peak Integration: Part I. What.

Integration of chromatographic peaks (determination of height, area, and retention time) is the first and most important step in the data analysis of HPLC and GC methods. This information is used for all subsequent calculations, including construction of calibration curves and calculation of unknown concentrations. This first installment will define what chromatographic peak integration is and the primary chromatography data system (CDS) settings which are required.