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There is no such thing as "the best" solvent. It all depends on the nature of the chemical you wish to solvate/extract.
For example, the polar, water soluble Vitamin C cannot be extracted by petrolium ether because of the non-polar nature of the latter.
Nonetheless, I think petrolium ether is a pretty good solvent for non-polar chemicals. We've used it successfully in extraction but we've used other solvents successfully as well.
