Compound Identification in Chromatography

There are three main steps in a chromatography technique. Those are the separation, identification and the quantification. The eluted fractions of a complex mixture, from the separation process of a chromatography technique should be identified. It can be a colored fraction or a radioactive fraction or else can be a compound emitting florescence. Not only these, there can be so many different types! If it is a colored compound usually the task is very easy. But in practical it is not always colored! Colorless compounds can be identified by TLC (Thin Layer Chromatography), Gas chromatography or High performance liquid chromatography.