Weigh 1.0-1.5 g of tomato paste into a 25 mL Erlenmeyer flask. Extract the solid material by swirling the Erlenmeyer flask with a 5 mL portion of a 50% (by volume) mixture of acetone and low-boiling petroleum ether. Break up any large clumps with a spatula. Filter the solution in a Pasteur pipette and collect the filtrate in a large test tube. Extract with a second 5 mL portion of acetone-petroleum ether and pass through the Pasteur pipette. Wash the combined extracts with 5 mL of saturated aqueous NaCl. Remove the aqueous wash with a Pasteur pipette. Then wash with 5 mL of 10% aqueous K"2" CO3. Again, remove the aqueous wash. Finally, wash with another 5 mL of saturated aqueous NaCl and remove the aqueous wash. (The above described washing and removing technique is a microscale extraction. Your instructor will demonstrate this technique.)