An automated method for baseline correction, peak finding and peak grouping in chromatographic data.

An automated method (FastChrom) for baseline correction, peak detection and assignment (grouping) of similar peaks across samples has been developed. The method has been tested both on artificial data and a dataset obtained from gas chromatograph analysis of wine samples. As part of the automated approach, a new method for baseline estimation has been developed and compared with other methods. FastChrom has been shown to perform at least as well as conventional software. However, compared to other approaches, FastChrom finds more peaks in the chromatograms and not only those with retention times defined by the user. FastChrom is fast and easy to use and offers the possibility of applying a retention time index which facilitates the identification of peaks and the comparison between experiments.