elution /elo̅o̅″shən/ , the removal of an absorbed substance from a porous bed or chromatographic column by means of a stream of liquid or gas or the application of heat. The technique may consist of washing a material that dissolves out of just one component of a mixture. The term is also applied to the removal of antibodies or radioactive tracers from erythrocytes. In heat elution of antibodies, red cells in a saline solution are heated to 56° C and then centrifuged. Liquid elution of antibodies usually uses ether as the solvent.
