High oleic acid oils

1. Lipid extracted from safflower seed, the lipid comprising triacylglycerols (TAG) which consist of fatty acids esterified to glycerol, wherein

i) the fatty acids comprise palmitic acid and oleic acid,

ii) at least 95% by weight of the lipid is TAG,

iii) 90% to 95% by weight of the total fatty acid content of the lipid is oleic acid,

iv) less than 3%, by weight of the total fatty acid content of the lipid is palmitic acid,

v) the lipid has an oleic desaturation proportion (ODP) of less than 0.037 and/or a palmitic-linoleic-oleic value (PLO) of less than 0.063, and

vi) less than 2.25% by weight of the total fatty acid content of the lipid is linoleic acid.

2. The lipid of claim 1 which has one or more or all of the following features,

a) 90% to 94% by weight of the total fatty acid content of the lipid is oleic acid,

b) 0.1% to 3% by weight of the total fatty acid content of the lipid is polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA),

c) less than 1% by weight of the total fatty acid content of the lipid is a-linolenic acid (ALA),

d) 0.5% to 1% by weight of the total fatty acid content of the lipid is 18:1Δ11,

e) 90% to 96% by weight of the total fatty acid content of the lipid is monounsaturated fatty acids,

f) the lipid has an oleic monounsaturation proportion (OMP) of less than 0.02,

g) the lipid is in the form of a purified oil, and

h) the lipid is non-hydrogenated.

3. The lipid of claim 1 , wherein less than 0. 5%, by weight of the total fatty acid content of the lipid, is α-linolenic acid.

4. The lipid of claim 1 , wherein 55% to 80% of the TAG content of the lipid is triolein.

5. The lipid of claim 1 , wherein less than 5% of the oleic acid content of the lipid is in the form of diacylglycerols (DAG).

6. The lipid of claim 1 , which is in the form of an oil, wherein at least 90% by weight of the oil is the lipid.

7. The lipid of claim 1 which further comprises one or more sterols.

8. The lipid of claim 7 which is in the form of an oil, and which comprises less than 5 mg of sterols/g of oil.

9. The lipid of claim 8 which comprises one or more or all of

a) 1.5% to 4.5% of the total sterol content is ergost-7-en-3β-ol,

b) 0.5% to 3% of the total sterol content is triterpenoid alcohol,

c) 8.9% to 20% of the total sterol content is Δ7-stigmasterol/stigmast-7-en-3β3-ol, and

d) 1.7% to6.1% of the total sterol content is Δ7-avenasterol.

10. The lipid of claim 1 which has a volume of at least 1 litre and/or a weight of at least 1 kg, and/or which was extracted from seeds obtained from field-grown safflower plants.

11. A composition comprising a first component which is lipid of claim 1 , and a second component, where the composition was produced by mixing the lipid with the second component.

12. The composition of claim 11 , wherein the second component is a non-lipid substance.

13. A process for producing oil, the process comprising

i) obtaining safflower seed whose oil content is a lipid as defined in claim 1 , and

ii) extracting oil from the safflower seed so as to thereby produce the oil.

14. A process for producing an industrial product, the process comprising the steps of:

i) obtaining the lipid of claim 1 ,

ii) optionally physically processing the lipid,

ii) converting at least some of the lipid, or the physically processed product of step ii), to the industrial product by applying heat, chemical, or enzymatic means, or any combination thereof, to the lipid, and

iii) recovering the industrial product,

thereby producing the industrial product.

15. A method of producing a feedstuff, the method comprising admixing the lipid of claim 1 with at least one other food ingredient.

16. The lipid of claim 1 , wherein less than 2. 75%, by weight of the total fatty acid content of the lipid, is palmitic acid.

17. The lipid of claim 1 , wherein the ODP of the fatty acid content of the lipid is 0.033 to 0.01.

18. The lipid of claim 1 , wherein the PLO value of the fatty acid content of the lipid is 0.020 to 0.063.

19. The lipid of claim 18 , wherein the PLO value of the fatty acid content of the lipid is 0.020 to 0.055.

20. Lipid extracted from safflower seed, the lipid comprising triacylglycerols (TAG) which consist of fatty acids esterified to glycerol, wherein

i) the fatty acids comprise palmitic acid and oleic acid,

ii) at least 95% by weight of the lipid is TAG,

iii) 91% to 95% by weight of the total fatty acid content of the lipid is oleic acid,

iv) less than 3%, by weight of the total fatty acid content of the lipid is palmitic acid,

v) the lipid has an oleic desaturation proportion (ODP) of less than 0.037 and/or a palmitic-linoleic-oleic value (PLO) of less than 0.063, and

vi) less than 2.25% by weight of the total fatty acid content of the lipid is linoleic acid.