Process, created vegetable oil composition, use and infant formula

Abstract

Disclosed is a process for increasing the amount of palmitic acid of a starting vegetable oil composition. The invention further relates to a created vegetable oil composition having from 20% to 60% by weight of palmitic acid in the triglycerides compared to the total weight of fatty acids in the triglycerides in the created vegetable oil composition, said created vegetable oil composition being not originated from palm oil, palm kernel oil and oils derived therefrom. The invention further relates to the use of said created vegetable oil composition and an infant formula comprising said created vegetable oil composition.

Description

[0001] Process, created vegetable oil composition, use and infant formula Technical field of the invention The present invention relates to a process for increasing the amount of palmitic acid present in the triglycerides of a vegetable oil composition thereby creating a vegetable oil composition having an increased amount of palmitic acid present in its triglycerides. The invention further relates to the use of said created vegetable oil composition and an infant formula comprising said created vegetable oil composition. Background of the invention It is known to manufacture products having a high amount of palmitic acid, in particular in the sn2-position, using some kind of highly fractionated palm stearin as disclosed in e.g. EP1928990B1, EP3583857A1, EP0209327B1 and WO2005 / 036987 to mimic human milk, especially for infant nutrition. The advantage of using expensive hard palm stearin is that this is a way to ensure a high content of palmitic acid in the starting oil. EP2173197A2 discloses a process for producing randomised palm oil stearin with a reduced level of dialkylketones (DAKs) of from 1 to 140 ppm, which comprises the step of chemical interesterif ication of palm oil stearin in the presence of an interesterification catalyst, wherein the amount of catalyst is selected so as to reduce the level of undesirable DAKs. Indeed, conventional chemical interesterification forms DAKs, which are not suitable to be included in for example infant formulas. Alternatively, a way of producing a vegetable oil composition having a high amount of palmitic acid present, in particular, in the sn2-position is to realize at least one enzymatic transesterif ication and optionally one physical esterif ication on a starting vegetable oil having a high amount of palmitic acid, such as palm or palm kernel oils. However, the use of palm or palm kernel oils has disadvantages, particularly potential negative environmental effects. Summary of the invention For some infant formulas, it is not required to reach a high amount of palmitic acid in the sn2-position of the triglycerides of the vegetable oil. The inventors have appreciated that infant formulas wherein the triglycerides of the vegetable oil comprise a statistical distribution of fatty acids on sn1, sn2 and sn3 positions on the glycerol backbone, provide a nutritional positive effect. The inventors have also appreciated that no optimized and no reliable process has been disclosed for manufacturing such vegetable oils. Accordingly, the main object of the invention is to provide a method that in many aspects is an improved method in relation to the mentioned methods above, including providing an efficient and alternative way of enriching the amount of palmitic acid of a vegetable oil, in particular starting from a vegetable oil free from palm oil, palm kernel oils and oils derived therefrom. Another object of the invention is to provide a way of utilizing as much of the palmitic acid in the starting vegetable oil as possible. Another object of the invention is to provide a way of producing a vegetable oil composition that fulf ill infant nutrition requirements. It is an additional object to lower or completely abolish the use of ingredients derived from the palm tree, in particular palm oil and fractions thereof, as a source of palmitic acid for infant formula. It is a further object of the invention to enable the flexible sourcing of palmitic acid, being less dependent on the availability of palm oil or palmitic acid-enriched fractions thereof. The invention further relates to a created vegetable oil composition having from 20% to 60%, such as 25% to 60%, such as 25% to 55%, such as 30% to 55%, such as 30% to 50%, such as 35% to 50%, or such as 35% to 45% by weight of palmitic acid in the triglycerides compared to the total weight of fatty acids in the triglycerides in the created vegetable oil composition, said created vegetable oil composition being not originated from palm oil, palm kernel oil and oils derived therefrom, wherein the proportion of palmitic acid in sn2-position out of total palmitic acid in the triglycerides of the vegetable oil composition is in the range of from 25 to 35%. Disclosed herein in a first aspect is a process for increasing the amount of palmitic acid of a starting vegetable oil composition, wherein the process comprises the steps of: A). Providing the starting vegetable oil composition comprising less than 35%, such as less than 30%, such as less than 25 %, such as less than 20%, such as less than 15%, or such as less than 10% by weight of C16:0- fatty acids in the triglycerides compared to the total weight of fatty acids in the triglycerides in the starting vegetable oil composition; said starting vegetable oil composition is a non-palm oil,, B). Subjecting said starting vegetable oil composition to a hydrolysis or alcoholysis process so as to form glycerol, free fatty acids and / or non-glyceride esters thereof; C). Distilling said free fatty acids and / or non-glyceride esters thereof obtained in step B) to obtain at least a fatty acid composition rich in palmitic acid; D). Performing an esterif ication of glycerol with; said fatty acid composition rich in palmitic acid and / or nonglyceride esters thereof, and optionally a supplemental fatty acid composition so as to form a crude vegetable oil blend; E). Separating the crude vegetable oil blend to obtain a mixture of residue reactants and a created vegetable oil composition. Without being willing to be bound by any theory, by using the process it is possible to increase the amount of palmitic acid of a starting vegetable oil composition in an efficient way. The process efficiently utilizes the palmitic acid in the starting vegetable oil composition, which is an advantage, especially in the case where the starting vegetable oil composition has a low content of palmitic acid. A resulting created vegetable oil composition, that can be used for infant nutrition, is provided. A non-palm oil is an oil not selected from palm oil, palm kernel oil, oils derived therefrom and any combination thereof, or any derived fraction thereof. Whereas palm oil is the vegetable oil best known for containing a high amount of palmitic acid (C16:0 fatty acid residues), other vegetable oils may also contain palmitic acid, but typically in lower abundance. In step A, the starting oil is selected from non-palm sources, and can be either a single oil or oil fraction, or a blend of non-palm oils. The starting oil may contain oils recycled back from later steps of the process. Fatty acids may be present as triglycerides, diglycerides, monoglycerides and free fatty acids. In step B, the fatty acids are removed from glycerol, resulting in either free fatty acids and / or alcohol esters, when using alcoholysis. In step C, the hydrolysed oil is fractionated by distillation, and a fraction enriched in palmitic acid is selected to continue the process. The fatty acids may be distilled as free fatty acids, or as the alcohol esters, in case the previous step was alcoholysis. Other major fractions may include for instance glycerol, and fatty acid fractions with a diminished amount of palmitic acid. In step D, the fatty acids are reacted with glycerol, preferably with excess fatty acids to ensure that a major part of the fatty acids are in triglycerides. The reaction mixture may be supplemented with fatty acids from other sources as desired. This is a random reaction process, leading to a statistical distribution of the fatty acids on the glycerol. In step E, the unreacted fatty acids and glycerol are separated from the created oil, which contains mostly triglycerides. The mixture of residue reactants may be recycled into the process. Even though the process above does not include an expensive additional 1,3 selective enzymatic process, still a significant amount of triglycerides with palmitic acid in the sn2 position can be obtained in an efficient way. Disclosed herein in a second aspect is a created vegetable oil composition having from 25 and 35% by weight of palmitic acid (C16:0) present in the sn2-position out of total palmitic acid in the triglycerides of the created vegetable oil composition, from 20% to 60% by weight of palmitic acid in the triglycerides compared to the total weight of fatty acids in the triglycerides in the created vegetable oil composition, said created vegetable oil composition being not originated from palm oil, palm kernel oil and oils derived therefrom, wherein the proportion of palmitic acid in sn2-position out of total palmitic acid in the triglycerides of the vegetable oil composition is in the range of from 25 to 35%. Disclosed herein in a third aspect the use of said created vegetable oil composition in the manufacture of an infant formula. Disclosed herein in a fourth aspect is the use of said created vegetable oil composition in the manufacture of a plant-based food product Disclosed herein in a fifth aspect is an infant formula comprising from 5% to 100% by weight of said created vegetable oil composition. Definitions As used herein, the term “vegetable” shall be understood as originating from a plant or a single cell organism. Thus, vegetable oil or vegetable triglycerides are still to be understood as vegetable oil or vegetable triglycerides if all the fatty acids used to obtain said triglyceride or oil is of plant or single cell organism origin. The term “oil” as used herein refers to glyceride fats and oils containing fatty acid acyl groups and does not imply any particular melting point. The term “fat” is used synonymously with “oil” herein. Using the nomenclature CX means that the fatty acid comprises X carbon atoms, e.g. a C14-fatty acid has 14 carbon atoms while a C16-fatty acid has 16 carbon atoms. Using the nomenclature CX:Y means that the fatty acid comprises X carbon atoms and Y double bonds, e.g. a C14:0 fatty acid has 14 carbon atoms and 0 double bonds while a C18:1 fatty acid has 18 carbon atoms and 1 double bond. In general, triglycerides use a "sn" notation, which stands for stereospecific numbering. In a Fischer projection of a natural L-glycerol derivative, the secondary hydroxyl group is shown to the left of C-2; the carbon atom above this then becomes C-1 and that below becomes C-3. The prefix ‘sn’ is placed before the stem name of the compound. Sn1 / sn2 / sn3: Fischer projection of a natural L-glycerol derivative. As used herein, “%” or “percentage” relates to weight percentage i.e. wt.% or wt.-% if nothing else is indicated. As used herein, the term “fatty acid” encompasses free fatty acids and fatty acid residues in triglycerides. As used herein, the expression “oils derived therefrom” encompasses any processed oils, i.e. oils that have undergone a process. For example, this term includes any fraction of oils, i.e. oils that have undergone fractionation. As used herein, the expression “fatty acid composition rich” Or “rich fraction” relates to a fatty acid composition rich in specific fatty acids. This expression includes the fatty acid compositions that have undergone an enrichment in one or more fatty acids, i.e “fatty acid composition enriched” or “enriched fraction”. Several means can be used to separate the FFA into fractions of desirable composition, including, but not limited to Fractional distillation, FFA fractionation, and SPD (short path distillation). SPD treatment will be described in the detailed description. Fractional distillation is described in literature that C16 FFA enriched fractions can be achieved in 90% purity of higher. See for example Bailey’s industrial oil and fats products, volume 2, fourth edition, a Wiley Interscience publication, chapter 6. Further see R. Berger and W. Pherson. J. Am. Oil Chemists’ Soc, vol 56 (1979). See also R. H. Potts and F. B. white, J. Am. Oil Chemists’ Soc, vol 30, No 2, (1953). And further also see Distillation – Advances from modelling to application, chapter 5, 2012, published by InTech, ISBN 978-953-51-0428-5. FFA fractionation is described in for example JAOCS, vol.61, no.2, p 219-222 (1984) and JAOCS, Vol.75, no.10, p 1403-1409 (1998). Detailed description of the invention When describing the below embodiments, the present invention envisages all possible combinations and permutations of the below described embodiments with the above disclosed aspects. The invention relates to a process for increasing the amount of palmitic acid of a starting vegetable oil composition, wherein the process comprises the steps of: A). Providing the starting vegetable oil composition comprising less than 35% such as less than 30%, such as less than 25%, such as less than 20%, by weight of palmitic acid in the triglycerides compared to the total weight of fatty acids in the triglycerides in the starting vegetable oil composition; said starting vegetable oil composition being not selected from palm oil, palm kernel oil, oils derived therefrom and any combination thereof, B). Subjecting said starting vegetable oil composition to a hydrolysis or alcoholysis process so as to form glycerol, free fatty acids and / or non- glyceride esters thereof; C). Distilling said free fatty acids and / or non-glyceride esters thereof obtained in step B) to obtain at least a fatty acid composition rich in C16:0-fatty acids; D). Performing an esterif ication of glycerol; said fatty acid composition rich in C16:0-fatty acids and / or nonglyceride esters thereof and optionally a supplemental fatty acid composition so as to form a crude vegetable oil blend; E). Separating the crude vegetable oil blend to obtain a mixture of residue reactants and a created vegetable oil composition. The present process results in the created vegetable oil composition with an increased amount of palmitic acid compared to the starting vegetable oil composition. In one or more embodiments, the process comprises increasing the amount of palmitic acid present in the sn2-position out of total palmitic acid in the triglycerides of a created vegetable oil composition. It is believed that the process results in an increased sn2- position palmitic acid compared to a starting vegetable oil composition which means that the content of palmitic acid in the triglycerides in the sn2-position (the mid position on the triglyceride) of the obtained created vegetable oil composition is greater when compared to the content of palmitic acid in the same position in the starting vegetable oil composition. In one or more embodiments, the starting vegetable oil composition comprises less than 20% by weight of palmitic acid in the triglycerides compared to the total weight of fatty acids in the triglycerides. In one or more embodiments, the starting vegetable oil composition comprises less than 35%, such as less than 30%, such as less than 25%, such as less than 20%, or such as less than 15% by weight of palmitic acid in the triglycerides compared to the total weight of fatty acids in the triglycerides. In one or more embodiments, the starting vegetable oil composition comprises at least 1% by weight of palmitic acid in the triglycerides compared to the total weight of fatty acids in the triglycerides. In one or more embodiments, the starting vegetable oil composition comprises from 2 to 12% by weight of palmitic acid in the triglycerides compared to the total weight of fatty acids in the triglycerides. In one or more embodiments, the starting vegetable oil composition is selected from the group: sunflower oil, rapeseed oil, canola oil, coconut oil, rice bran oil, safflower oil, corn oil, high oleic sunflower oil, high oleic rapeseed, shea oil, soybean oil, oils derived therefrom and any combination and / or blend thereof. In one or more embodiments, the starting vegetable oil composition is free of pequi oil, sea buckthorn oil, cheru seed oil (also called phulwara oil), palash seed oil, oils derived therefrom and any combination thereof. In one or more embodiments, the starting vegetable oil composition is free of hydrogenated oils. In one or more embodiments, the starting vegetable oil composition has an iodine value of at least 6, preferably at least 8, more preferably at least 15, such as at least 20, such as at least 25, such as at least 30, such as at least 35, such as at least 40, such as at least 45, such as at least 50, such as at least 55, or such as at least 60. In one or more embodiments, the starting vegetable oil composition has an iodine value of 160 or less, such as 150 or less, such as 140 or less, or such as 130 or less. Being able to begin with a starting vegetable oil composition having less content of palmitic acid than in a palm stearin with low iodine value of e.g.12, is highly beneficial, since palmitic acid is a rare source material to obtain, especially if you need an organic variant. Thereby a more economic process can be obtained. The hydrolysis or alcoholysis may be performed at high pressure and high temperature in a counter-current reaction tower. The oils are fed at the bottom of the tower, and the water or alcohol is fed at the top of the tower. Due to difference in density, the water or alcohol will be transported downwards through the tower and the oil will strive upwards. During the contact of water or alcohol phase and oil phase hydrolysis will take place and fatty acid and glycerol will be formed. Glycerol is leaving the tower, together with surplus water or alcohol, at the bottom and the fatty acid is leaving the tower at the top. The glycerol may be re-used in the process once water or alcohol has been removed. In one or more embodiments, in step B), the temperature is from 200 to 270°C, preferably from 200 to 260°C, and more preferably from 200 to 240°C. In one or more embodiments, in step B), the pressure is from 30 to 60 bar, preferably from 45 to 55 bar. In one or more embodiments, in step B), the free fatty acids comprise palmitic acid and C18-fatty acids, and / or non-glyceride esters thereof. C18-fatty acids may comprise C18:0-fatty acids, C18:1-fatty acids, C18:2-fatty acids and / or C18:3-fatty acids. In another embodiment, the free fatty acids comprise palmitic acid and lauric acid (C12:0), and / or non-glyceride esters thereof. This may for instance be the case when the starting oil was a lauric oil, or a blend or fraction thereof, such as coconut oil. In one or more embodiments, step B) further comprises separating said free fatty acids and / or non-glyceride esters thereof from said glycerol and any water / alcohol. In one or more embodiments, the process further comprises using the obtained glycerol of said step B) in the esterif ication step D). In one or more embodiments, in step C), a fatty acid composition rich in lauric acid and / or a fatty acid composition rich in C18-fatty acids, and / or non-glyceride esters thereof is also obtained. In one or more embodiments, after step C), the fatty acid composition rich in palmitic acid and / or nonglyceride esters thereof comprises at least 30% by weight of palmitic acid, such as at least 35% % by weight of C16:0-fatty acids, for example at least 40% by weight of palmitic acid, preferably at least 50% by weight of C16:0-fatty acids, more preferably at least 75% by weight of palmitic acid, preferably from 85% to 97% by weight of C16:0-fatty acids and for example from 90% to 99% by weight of palmitic acid. Without willing to be bound by any theory it is believed that a very pure fraction of palmitic acid is obtained thanks to the distillation step C). In one or more embodiments, the supplemental fatty acid composition of step D) is a fatty acid composition rich in C18-fatty acids and / or nonglyceride esters thereof. In one or more embodiments, the process comprises using the obtained fatty acid composition rich in C18-fatty acids and / or nonglyceride esters thereof of step C) in the esterif ication step D). In one or more embodiments, the esterif ication in step D) comprises the sub-steps of: i). blending the fatty acid composition rich in palmitic acid and / or non- glyceride esters thereof, optionally the supplemental fatty acid composition, with glycerol so as to form a glycerol and free fatty acid mixture blend; ii). Heating said blend under reduced pressure over a period of time; iii). Further increasing the temperature and heating said blend over a period of time and simultaneously lowering the pressure further compared to step ii) iv). Keeping said blend at the temperature and pressure of step iii) for a period of time. In one or more embodiments of the esterif ication in step D), the step of blending the glycerol with said palmitic acid rich fraction to obtain a blend (step i) is carried out in a container. A container may be any container suitable for carrying out a chemical reaction. Such containers may e.g. be, but not limited to, a flask, a tank, a tube, a laboratory flask, a round-bottom flask, a three-necked flask, a two-necked flask, a one- necked flask, a glass flask, or a metal f lask. The reaction may be carried out with or without agitation, such as stirring. In one or more embodiments of the esterification in step D), a condenser is used. The condenser is heated to a temperature of 40 °C to 150 °C, such as 50 °C to 90 °C, or such as 65 °C to 90 °C. This temperature of the condenser is dependent on the size and surface area of the condenser, and it is important to use a temperature where water is evaporated while the majority of the glycerol is condensed, to avoid losing too much of the glycerol. In one or more embodiments of the esterif ication in step D), the reduced pressure in step ii) is in the range of 150 mbar to 400 mbar, or such as in the range of 175 mbar to 250 mbar. In one or more embodiments of the esterif ication in step D), step ii) and step iii) are combined into one step by continuously heating the glycerol and fatty acid compositions to the wanted temperature under reduced pressure over a period of time. In one or more embodiments of the esterif ication in step D), step iii) comprises two steps; iii1) lowering the pressure compared to step ii) over a period of time; iii2) increasing the temperature under the reduced pressure of step iii1) over a period of time. In one or more embodiments of the esterification in step D), step iii1) and step iii2) are sequentially in that order. In one or more embodiments of the esterification in step D), step iii1) and step iii2) are reversed. In one or more embodiments, blend in step ii) is heated to at least 140 °C. In one or more embodiments, the blend in step ii) is heated to maximum 240 °C. Preferably, the blend is heated at a temperature from 160 to 220°C and advantageously, from 180 to 200°C. In one or more embodiments of the esterif ication in step D), the reduced pressure in step ii) is in the range of from 150 mbar to 400 mbar, or such as in the range of from 175 mbar to 250 mbar. In one or more embodiments of the esterification in step D), the period of time in step ii) is in the range of from 15 minutes to 5 hours, or such as in the range of from 30 minutes to 4 hours. In one or more embodiments of the esterification in step D), the period of time in step ii) is at least 15 minutes, such as at least 20 minutes, such as at least 30 minutes, such as at least 1 hour, such as at least 2 hours, or such as at least 3 hours. In one or more embodiments of the esterification in step D), the temperature in step iii) is in the range of from 180 °C to 250 °C, or such as in the range of from 210 °C to 230 °C. In one or more embodiments of the esterif ication in step D), the blend in step iii) is heated to at least 160 °C. In one or more embodiments of the esterif ication in step D), the blend in step iii) is heated to maximum 230 °C. In one or more embodiments, the blend in step c) is heated to maximum 250 °C. The temperature is gradually raised when going from step ii) to step iii). In one or more embodiments, the temperature is raised from around 170 °C in step b) and up to around 210 °C in step c). In one or more embodiments of the esterif ication in step D), the pressure in step iii) is in the range of from 10 mbar to 400 mbar, such as in the range of from 20 mbar to 250 mbar, such as in the range of from 30 mbar to 150 mbar, such as in the range of from 30 mbar to 90 mbar, or such as in the range of from 30 mbar to 40 mbar. The pressure is gradually decreased when going from step ii) to step iii). In one or more embodiments, the pressure is decreased from around 200 mbar in step ii) and down to around 30 mbar in step iii). In one or more embodiments of the esterif ication in step D), the period of time in step iii) is in the range of 15 minutes to 5 hours, or such as in the range of 30 minutes to 4 hours. In one or more embodiments of the esterif ication in step D), the period of time in step iii) is at least 15 minutes, such as at least 20 minutes, such as at least 30 minutes, such as at least 1 hour, or such as at least 2 hours. In one or more embodiments, during the esterif ication step D), the distribution of fatty acids on sn1, sn2 and sn3 positions on the glycerol backbone is statistical. Without willing to be bound by any theory, the statistical distribution of fatty acids on sn1, sn2 and sn3 positions on the glycerol backbone is realized when performing esterif ication step. Accordingly, the triglyceride profile of esterif ied fat blends can be calculated by probability laws from their fatty acid composition. Esterif ication should be understood as process of combining a fatty acid moiety with an alcohol, in particular glycerol, to form a triglyceride. A fatty acid moiety may be understood as a free fatty acid, a fatty acid ester, a fatty acid anhydride, an activated fatty acid and / or the fatty acyl part of a fatty acid. In one or more embodiments, the process comprises a further step of using residue reactants obtained during the process and recycling them back into the process. In one or more embodiments, the step of using residue reactants obtained during the process and recycling them back into the process comprises using the mixture of residue reactants obtained from step E) and providing them in the esterif ication step D). In one or more embodiments, in step E), the residue reactants comprise any free fatty acids and / or non-glyceride esters thereof, monoglycerides, glycerol, and / or water that have not reacted in the esterif ication step D). In one or more embodiments, water is continuously removed during step D) to shift the reaction equilibrium towards the esterif ication. In one or more embodiments, the process can be run several times (e.g.2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 or more cycles) so that the free fatty acids and / or non-glyceride esters thereof, monoglycerides, glycerol that have not reacted during the process can be recycled back into the process several times, that is; the free fatty acids and / or non-glyceride esters thereof, monoglycerides, glycerol that have not reacted in a preceding run is used in a present run hereby obtaining a new excess free fatty acids and / or non- glyceride esters thereof for use in a subsequent run and so forth. By using free fatty acids and / or non-glyceride esters thereof, monoglycerides, glycerol, that have not reacted during the process and recycling them back into the process in step D), at least the unreacted palmitic acid left from one process cycle can be reused in the same process starting from a new amount of starting vegetable oil composition. This means that at least the palmitic acid rich fraction obtained in a preceding run is used in a present run, hereby obtaining a new palmitic acid rich fraction for use in a subsequent run and so forth. Hence, as the palmitic acid is found as a limiting source in nature, the present process secures that the amount of palmitic acid wasted during the process is minimal, as it keeps reusing the excess palmitic acid into the process. In one or more embodiments, the separation of step E) is realized by distillation. In one or more embodiments, the distillation in step C) and / or in step E) is a fractional distillation. In one or more embodiments, the distillation step is a physical refinement. The distillation takes place at a temperature of at least 160 °C, under a reduced pressure from 0.2 mbar to 200 mbar, such as 0.2 to 100 mbar, such as 1 to 100 mbar, such as 1 to 10 mbar, depending on the temperature. In one or more embodiments, the distillation takes place at a temperature of at least 190 °C and under reduced pressure. In one or more embodiments, the distillation takes place at a temperature of from 220 °C to 260 °C and under reduced pressure, such as around 240 °C and under reduced pressure. In one embodiment, chemical refinement can be used instead of physical refinement in step E) and the skilled person will then know to change the temperature to around 100 °C. In one or more embodiments, the process further comprises neutralization, bleaching, and / or deodorization of the resulting created vegetable oil composition of the separation of step E). In one or more embodiments, the content of the palmitic acid in the created vegetable oil composition is more than twice as high as in the starting vegetable oil composition. In one or more embodiments, the content of the palmitic acid in the created vegetable oil composition is more than two-and-a-half times as high as in the starting vegetable oil composition. In one or more embodiments, no chemical catalyst is used in any of the process steps. By avoiding using a chemical catalyst the process is simpler, and if an organic starting vegetable oil composition is used the obtained created vegetable oil composition can keep the organic status. Furthermore, toxic side products, such as dialkylketones (DAKs) are not produced. The DAKs contain two alkyl chains derived from fatty acids i.e., they are ketones having (C10-C24) and (C10-C24) straight chain alkyl groups, where the alkyl groups may be the same or different. In one or more embodiments, no enzyme is used in any of the process steps. In one or more embodiments, the process comprises a sole esterif ication step D). The invention also relates to a created vegetable oil composition having from 20% to 60% by weight of palmitic acid in the triglycerides compared to the total weight of fatty acids in the triglycerides in the created vegetable oil composition, said created vegetable oil composition being not originated from palm oil, palm kernel oil and oils derived therefrom. In one or more embodiments, the proportion of palmitic acid in sn2-position out of total palmitic acid in the triglycerides of the created vegetable oil composition is in the range of from 30 to 35%, preferably of from 25 and 35%, by weight of palmitic acid (C16:0) present in the sn2-position out of total palmitic acid in the triglycerides of the created vegetable oil composition. In one or more embodiments, the proportion of palmitic acid in sn2-position out of total C16:0-fatty acids in the triglycerides of the created vegetable oil composition is 33%. In one or more embodiments, the created vegetable oil composition comprises from 30% to 60% by weight of palmitic acid in the triglycerides compared to the total weight of fatty acids in the triglycerides in the created vegetable oil composition, such as from 35% to 60%, and preferably from 35 to 50%. In one or more embodiments, the created vegetable oil composition comprises less than 4% by weight, preferably less than 2% by weight, of palmitoleic acid (C16:1) present in the triglycerides compared to the total weight of fatty acids in the triglycerides in the created vegetable oil composition. In one or more embodiments, the created vegetable oil composition comprises less than 10% by weight, preferably less than 8% by weight, and advantageously less than 6% of linolenic acid (C18:3) present in the triglycerides compared to the total weight of fatty acids in the triglycerides in the created vegetable oil composition. In one or more embodiments, the created vegetable oil composition comprises less than 5% by weight, preferably less than 4% by weight, of stearic acid (C18:0) present in the triglycerides compared to the total weight of fatty acids in the triglycerides in the created vegetable oil composition. Alternatively, in one or more embodiments, the created vegetable oil composition comprises of from 5 to 25% by weight, preferably of from 8 to 20% by weight, and advantageously of from 10 to 20% of stearic acid (C18:0) present in the triglycerides compared to the total weight of fatty acids in the triglycerides in the created vegetable oil composition. It is believed that the created vegetable oil composition having this content of stearic acid provides a fatty acid composition close to human mother’s milk fat. In one or more embodiments, the created vegetable oil composition has a weight ratio of palmitic acid (C16:0) to stearic acid (C18:0) of from of from 2:1 to 5:1, preferably of from 2:1 to 4:1. The created vegetable oil composition preferably comprises a greater amount of palmitic acid than stearic acid. This is advantageous from a nutritional perspective since the created vegetable oil composition having this weight ratio of palmitic acid (C16:0) to stearic acid (C18:0) mimic the ratio present to human mother’s milk fat. In one or more embodiments, the created vegetable oil composition comprises less than 5% by weight, preferably less than 3% by weight, of C20 to C24 fatty acids present in the triglycerides compared to the total weight of fatty acids in the triglycerides in the created vegetable oil composition. In one or more embodiments, the created vegetable oil composition comprises less than 10% by weight, preferably less than 8% by weight, advantageously less than 6% and for example less than 4.5% by weight of C8, C10, C12 and C14 fatty acids present in the triglycerides compared to the total weight of fatty acids in the triglycerides in the created vegetable oil composition. This can be obtained if no lauric oils, or low amounts of lauric oils, were used in the process. In one or more embodiments, the created vegetable oil composition is not originated from pequi oil, sea buckthorn oil, cheru seed oil, palash seen oil, and oils derived therefrom. In one or more embodiments, the created vegetable oil composition is not originated from hydrogenated oils. In one or more embodiments, the created vegetable oil composition does not comprise an interesterif ied oil. Typically, an interesterif ied oil is produced by chemical interesterification, enzymatic interesterif ication, or a combination thereof. Any suitable interesterif ication process can be used to produce the interesterif ied oil. Suitable process conditions for interesterif ication can, for example, be the interesterif ication process conditions discussed in EP2196094. In one or more embodiments, the created vegetable oil composition does not comprise phospholipids. In one or more embodiments, the starting vegetable oil composition is selected from: sunflower oil, rapeseed oil, canola oil, coconut oil, rice bran oil, safflower oil, corn oil, high oleic sunflower oil, high oleic rapeseed, shea oil, soybean oil, oils derived therefrom and any combination and / or blend thereof. In one or more embodiments, the created vegetable oil composition is obtained by the process according to the present invention. The invention further relates to the use of a created vegetable oil composition made according to the present invention in the manufacture of an infant formula. The invention further relates to the use of a created vegetable oil composition made according to the present invention in the manufacture of a plant-based food product. The invention further relates to an infant formula comprising from 5% to 100% by weight of a created vegetable oil composition made according to the present invention. Examples The following examples are for illustrative purposes only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention in any way. Example 1 - Distillation of FFA to obtain a C16 rich fraction, followed by esterification to obtain a C16 enriched oil originating from HOSO The starting vegetable oil composition is split into FFA (Free Fatty Acids), water and glycerol via a counter-current hydrolysis at high temperature and excess water, as for example described by Bailey’s industrial oil and fat products, vol 2, 4th edition. After hydrolysis the FFA are transferred to a distillation unit where the FFAs are separated (split) into a C16 rich fraction and a C18 rich fraction, respectively. Using FFA from a HOSO starting material containing approximately 4 weight% C16 it is possible to concentrate the C16 FFA into one fraction and the C18 FFA in another fraction using SPD (Short Path Distillation). If the distillate, enriched in C16 compared to the starting FFA composition, obtained from an SPD treatment is treated multiple times it is possible to concentrate the palmitic acid until desired levels have been achieved. The experiments were performed at temperatures of 100-115oC and at approximately 0,001 mbar and are shown in table 1 Table 1: composition of distillate upon repeated SPD treatments Starting Distillate Distillate Distillate Distillate Distillate Distillate HOSO Comp. Comp. Comp. Comp. Comp. Comp. Comp. SPD x1 SPD x2 SPD x3 SPD x4 SPD x5 SPD x6 %weight %weight %weight %weight %weight %weight %weight C16* 4 6 91833 52 72C18:0* 4 4 433 2 2C18:1* 80 76 735853 38 21C18:2* 10 11 1187 6 3* Analyzed with IUPAC 2.304 In this case, approximately 26% of residual C18 fatty acids were found in the C16 rich fraction. Table 2 shows the starting FFA composition based on HOSO, and the composition of the C16 rich and C18 rich FFA fractions obtained after SPD treatment. Table 2: FFA fractions obtained from hydrolysis and multiple SPD treatments of HOSO. Only C16:0 and C18 FFA are shown. They in total make up approximately 99% of the HOSO starting composition Starting oil (%weight) C16:0 rich fraction C18 rich fraction (%weight) (%weight) Yield - 5% 95% C16:0* 4% 72% Below detection limit C18:0* 4% 2% 4% C18:1* 80% 21% 84% C18:2* 10% 3% 10% C18:3* 1% Below detection limit 1% * Analyzed with IUPAC 2.304 The palmitic rich fraction can be mixed with the C18 rich fraction in a ratio fitting to obtain the desired concentration of palmitic acid in the final created vegetable oil composition. For this example, a final concentration of 40% palmitic acid by weight was preferred. The composition of the blend of free fatty acids used for this example is shown in table 3. Table 3: composition of FFA blend obtained from a HOSO starting vegetable oil composition. Only C16:0 and C18 FA are shown. They in total make up approximately 99% of the starting HOSO composition Starting C16:0 rich Starting C18 rich Blend composition fraction (%weight) fraction (%weight) (%weight) percentile by weight of f inal blend55% 45% 100%C16:0* 72% Below detection limit 40% C18:0* 2% 4% 3% C18:1* 21% 84% 50% C18:2* 3% 10% 6% C18:3* Below detection limit 1%Below detectionlimit* Analyzed with IUPAC 2.304 Glycerol and the free fatty acid blend were then mixed in a reaction vessel in a ratio of 1:4 by mole (33% excess free fatty acids) where the fatty acid blend in this example is comprising 40% by weight of palmitic acid and 59% by weight of C18 fatty acids (composition of blend is shown in table 3) the reaction vessel is equipped with a vacuum inlet, a cold trap and a condenser heated to 70oC. The reaction mixture was heated to 150oC over approximately 20 minutes under reduced pressure (200 mbar). The temperature was gradually increased to 210oC, while the pressure was gradually decreased to 33 mbar over a period of 30 to 60 minutes. Once the final reaction temperature was reached the reaction mixture was left at these conditions for 5 hours. The crude oil that was obtained was then distilled at 240oC under reduced pressure to remove excess free fatty acids to yield the final created vegetable oil composition enriched in C16:0 fatty acids containing 94% TAGs, 3% DAG and 1% FFA as shown in table 4 Table 4: Outcome of the esterification reaction TAGDAG %weight) (%weight)MAG (%FFA (weight)(%weight)IVFinal vegetable oil Below detection composition94* 3**limit**1* 56**** AOCS Official Method Cd 22-91 **the percentage of diglycerides and monoglycerides are given in % of acylglycerols and analyzed with AOCS Cd 11d-96 ***IUPAC 2.2057th ed. + supplement The FA composition of the oil is shown in table 5. Table 5: FA composition of esterified oil FA composition of oil (%weight) %weight in Sn2** %weight in Sn1 and Sn3 C16:0* 40% 13% 27% C18:0* 3% 1% 2% C18:1* 50% 17% 34% C18:2* 6% 2% 4% C18:3* Below detection limit Below detection limit Below detection limit * Analyzed with IUPAC 2.304 ** Analyzed with IUPAC 2.210 Example 2 - Process for increasing the amount of palmitic acid of a vegetable oil composition The composition of a starting rapeseed oil is shown in Table 6. Table 6: starting rapeseed oil composition Fatty acidsRapeseed oil(%weight)Iodine value (IV)* 107 C16:0** 5% C18:0** 2% C18:1** 63% C18:2** 20% C18:3** 7% Other** 3% *Analyzed with IUPAC 2.2057th ed. + supplement ** Analyzed with IUPAC 2.304 The starting vegetable oil composition is split into free fatty acids (FFA), glycerol and water via a standard counter-current hydrolysis at high pressure and excess water. The FFA fraction is transferred to a distillation unit where the FFAs are separated (split) into a palmitic acid rich fraction and a C18 rich fraction respectively. The resulting fractions have the compositions as shown in Table 7. The characteristics of the stripping column, the applied temperature, and reflux, determines the split of the different fatty acids. In this case, approximately 4% of residual C18 fatty acids were found in the C16 rich fraction. In principle the amount of C18 fatty acids found in the C16:0 fraction can be lowered at the expense of less capacity in the distillation column. Table 7: FFA fractions obtained after hydrolysis and fractional distillation of rapeseed oil. Only C16:0 and C18 FA are shown Starting oilC16:0 rich fraction C18 rich fraction (%weight)(%weight) (%weight) Yield - 5% 95% C16:0* 5% 96% Below detection limit C18:0* 2% Below detection limit 2% C18:1* 63% 3% 66% C18:2* 20% 1% 21% C18:3* 7% Below detection limit 8% * Analyzed with IUPAC 2.304 The C16:0 fraction is mixed with the C18 rich fraction so as to obtain the composition of the blend of free fatty acids shown in Table 8. Table 8: FFA composition of blend. Only C16:0 and C18 FA are shown Starting C16:0 richStarting C18 rich fraction Blend fraction (%weight)(%weight) (%weight) amount by weight of FFA blend42% 58% 100%C16:0* 96% Below detection limit 40% C18:0* Below detection limit 2% 1% C18:1* 3% 66% 40% C18:2* 1% 21% 13% C18:3* Below detection limit 8% 4% * Analyzed with IUPAC 2.304 Glycerol and the free fatty acid blend were then mixed in a reaction vessel in a ratio of 1:4 by mole (33% excess free fatty acids) where the fatty acid blend in this example is comprising 40% by weight of palmitic acid and 58% by weight of C18 fatty acids (composition of blend is shown in table 3) the reaction vessel is equipped with a vacuum inlet, a cold trap and a condenser heated to 70oC. The reaction mixture was heated to 150oC over approximately 20 minutes under reduced pressure (200 mbar). The temperature was gradually increased to 210oC, while the pressure was gradually decreased to 33 mbar over a period of 30 to 60 minutes. Once the final reaction temperature was reached the reaction mixture was left at these conditions for 5 hours. The crude oil that was obtained was then distilled at 240oC under reduced pressure to remove excess free fatty acids to yield the obtained vegetable oil composition enriched in C16:0 fatty acids containing 96% TAGs, 2% DAG, and 1% FFA as shown in table 9. Table 9: outcome of esterification reaction TAGDAG MAG FFA (%weight)(%weight) (%weight)(%weight)IVvegetable oil Below composition96* 2**detection limit**1* 71**** AOCS Official Method Cd 22-91 **the percentage of diglycerides and monoglycerides are given in % of acylglycerols and analyzed with AOCS Cd 11d-96 ***IUPAC 2.2057th ed. + supplement The FA composition of the oil is shown in Table 10. Table 10: FA composition of vegetable oil composition FA composition of oil (%weight) %weight in Sn2** %weight in Sn1 and Sn3 C16:0* 40% 13 27 C18:0* 1% 0.3 0.7 C18:1* 40% 13 27 C18:2* 13% 4 9 C18:3* 4% 1 3 * Analyzed with IUPAC 2.304 ** Analyzed with IUPAC 2.210 Example 3 - Process for increasing the amount of palmitic acid of a vegetable oil composition For this example, a sunflower oil as described in Table 11 was used as the starting vegetable oil composition. Table 11: FFA composition of starting sunflower oil Fatty acids Sunflower oil (%weight) Iodine value (IV)* 127 C16:0** 6% C18:0** 3% C18:1** 34% C18:2** 56% C18:3** 0% Other** 1% *Analyzed with IUPAC 2.2057th ed. + supplement ** Analyzed with IUPAC 2.304 The starting vegetable oil composition is split into free fatty acids (FFA), glycerol and water via a standard counter-current hydrolysis at high pressure and excess water. The FFA fraction is transferred to a distillation unit where the FFA are split into a palmitic acid rich fraction and a C18 rich fraction respectively. The resulting fractions have the compositions as shown in Table 12. In this case, approximately 4% of residual C18 fatty acids were found in the C16 rich fraction. Table 12: FFA fractions obtained from hydrolysis and fractional distillation of sunflower oil. Only C16:0 and C18 FA are shown Starting oil (%weight)C16:0 rich fractionC18 rich fraction (%weight)(%weight) Yield - 6% 94% C16:0* 6% 96% Below detection limit C18:0* 3% Below detection limit 3% C18:1* 34% 1% 36% C18:2* 56% 2% 60% C18:3* Below detection limit Below detection limit Below detection limit * Analyzed with IUPAC 2.304 The C16:0 fraction is mixed with the C18 rich fraction so as to obtain the composition of the blend of free fatty acids shown in Table 13. Table 13: FFA composition of the blend. Only C16:0 and C18 FA are shown. Starting C16:0 rich Starting C18 rich Blend fraction (%weight) fraction (%weight) (%weight) amount by weight of blend46% 54% 100%C16:0* 96%Below detection limit%44%C18:0* Below detection limit % 3% 2% C18:1* 1% 36% 20% C18:2* 2% 60% 33% Below C18:3* Below detection limit Below detection limit detection limit * Analyzed with IUPAC 2.304 Glycerol and the free fatty acid blend were then mixed in a reaction vessel in a ratio of 1:6 by mole (100% excess free fatty acids) where the fatty acid blend in this example is comprising 44% by weight of palmitic acid and 55% by weight of C18 fatty acids (composition of blend is shown in table 8) the reaction vessel is equipped with a vacuum inlet, a cold trap and a condenser heated to 70oC. The reaction mixture was heated to 150oC over approximately 20 minutes under reduced pressure (200 mbar) the temperature was gradually increased to 210oC, while the pressure was gradually decreased to 33 mbar over a period of 30 to 60 minutes. Once the final reaction temperature was reached the reaction mixture was left at these conditions for 3 hours. The crude oil that was obtained was then distilled at 240oC under reduced pressure to remove excess free fatty acids to yield the obtained vegetable oil composition enriched in C16:0 fatty acids containing 95% TAGs, 3% DAG and 0,5% FFA as shown in Table 14. Table 14: Outcome of the esterification process TAGDAG MAG FFA (%weight)(%weight) (%weight)(%weight)IVVegetable oil composition95* 3**Below detection limit**0,5* 76**** AOCS Official Method Cd 22-91 **the percentage of diglycerides and monoglycerides are given in % of acylglycerols and analyzed with AOCS Cd 11d-96 ***IUPAC 2.2057th ed. + supplement The FA composition of the vegetable oil is shown in table 15 Table 15: FA composition of Vegetable oil composition FA composition of oil (%weight) %weight in Sn2** %weight in Sn1 and Sn3 C16:0* 44% 15% 29% C18:0* 2% 1% 1% C18:1* 20% 7% 13% C18:2* 33% 11% 22% C18:3* Below detection limit Below detection limit Below detection limit * Analyzed with IUPAC 2.304 ** Analyzed with IUPAC 2.210 Example 4 - Process for increasing the amount of palmitic acid of a vegetable oil composition The composition of a starting rapeseed oil is shown in Table 16. Table 16: starting rapeseed oil Composition Fatty acids Rapeseed oil (%weight) Iodine value (IV)* 107 C16:0** 5% C18:0** 2% C18:1** 63% C18:2** 20% C18:3** 7% other 3% *Analyzed with IUPAC 2.2057th ed. + supplement ** Analyzed with IUPAC 2.304 The starting vegetable oil composition is split into free fatty acids, glycerol and water via a standard counter-current hydrolysis at high pressure and excess water. The FFA fraction is transferred to a distillation unit where the FFA are split into a palmitic acid rich fraction and a C18 rich fraction respectively. The resulting fractions have the compositions as shown in Table 17. In this case, approximately 48% of residual C18 fatty acids were found in the C16 rich fraction. Table 17: FFA fractions obtained from hydrolysis and fractional distillation of rapeseed oil. Only C16:0 and C18 FFA are shown Starting oil (%weight)C16:0 rich fractionC18 rich fraction (%weight)(%weight) Yield - 10% 90% C16:0* 5% 51%Below detection limit% C18:0* 2% 1% 2% C18:1* 63% 33% 67% C18:2* 20% 10% 21% C18:3* 7% 4% 8% * Analyzed with IUPAC 2.304 The C16:0 fraction is mixed with the C18 rich fraction so as to obtain the composition of the blend of free fatty acids shown in Table 18.

[0002] Table 18: FFA composition of the blend. Only C16:0 and C18 FA are shown Starting C16:0 richStarting C18 rich Blend fraction (%weight)fraction (%weight) (%weight) amount by weight of blend80% 20% 100C16:0* 51% 0% 40% C18:0* 1% 2% 1% C18:1* 33% 67% 39% C18:2* 10% 21% 13% C18:3* 4% 8% 4% * Analyzed with IUPAC 2.304 Glycerol and the free fatty acid blend were then mixed in a reaction vessel in a ratio of 1:4 by mole (33% excess free fatty acids) where the fatty acid blend in this example is comprising 40% by weight of palmitic acid and 57% by weight of C18 fatty acids (starting oil is rapeseed oil, composition of blend is shown in table 3) the reaction vessel is equipped with a vacuum inlet, a cold trap and a condenser heated to 70oC. The reaction mixture was heated to 150oC over approximately 20 minutes under reduced pressure (200 mbar). The temperature was gradually increased to 210oC, while the pressure was gradually decreased to 33 mbar over a period of 30 to 60 minutes. Once the final reaction temperature was reached the reaction mixture was left at these conditions for 4,5 hours. The crude oil that was obtained was then distilled at 240oC under reduced pressure to remove excess free fatty acids to yield the obtained created vegetable oil composition enriched in C16:0 fatty acids containing 95% TAGs, 3% DAG and 1% FFA as shown in Table 19. Table 19: outcome of esterification reaction TAGDAG MAG FFA (%weight)(%weight) (%weight)(%weight)IVVegetable oil 95* 3**Below composition detection limit**1* 71**** AOCS Official Method Cd 22-91 **the percentage of diglycerides and monoglycerides are given in % of acylglycerols and analyzed with AOCS Cd 11d-96 ***IUPAC 2.2057th ed. + supplement The FA composition of the oil is shown in table 20 Table 20: FA composition of Vegetable oil composition FA composition of oil (%weight) %weight in Sn2** %weight in Sn1 and Sn3 C16:0* 40% 13% 27 % C18:0* 1% 0.3% 0.7% C18:1* 39% 13 % 26% C18:2* 13% 4 % 9 % C18:3* 4% 1% 3% * Analyzed with IUPAC 2.304 ** Analyzed with IUPAC 2.210 Example 5 - Process for increasing the amount of palmitic acid of a vegetable oil composition The composition of a starting HOSO oil is shown in Table 21. Table 21: HOSO starting oil composition Fatty acids HOSO (%weight) Iodine value (IV)* 89 C16:0** 4% C18:0** 4% C18:1** 80% C18:2** 10% C18:3** 1% other 1% *Analyzed with IUPAC 2.2057th ed. + supplement ** Analyzed with IUPAC 2.304 The starting vegetable oil composition is split into free fatty acids, glycerol and water via a standard counter-current hydrolysis at high pressure and excess water. The FFA fraction is transferred to a distillation unit where the FFA are split into a palmitic acid rich fraction and a C18 rich fraction respectively. The resulting fractions have the compositions as shown in Table 22. In this case, approximately 60% of residual C18 fatty acids were found in the C16 rich fraction. Table 22: FFA fractions obtained from hydrolysis and fractional distillation of HOSO. Only C16:0 and C18 FFA are shown. Starting oil (%weight)C16:0 rich fractionC18 rich fraction (%weight)(%weight) Yield - 10% 90% C16:0* 4% 40% Below detection limit C18:0* 4% 2% 4% C18:1* 80% 50% 83% C18:2* 10% 6% 11% C18:3* 1% Below detection limit 1% * Analyzed with IUPAC 2.304 For this example, the C16 fraction was used directly in the following esterif ication reaction without adding any other fatty acids composition. The composition of the free fatty acids used for this example is shown in Table 23. Table 23 –FFA composition of the blend obtained from a HOSO starting vegetable oil composition. Only C16:0 and C18 FA are shown C16:0 rich fraction used directly in esterification reaction (%weight) C16:0* 40% C18:0* 2% C18:1* 50% C18:2* 6% C18:3* Below detection limit * Analyzed with IUPAC 2.304 Glycerol and the free fatty acids were then mixed in a reaction vessel in a ratio of 1:4 by mole (33% excess free fatty acids) where the fatty acid blend in this example is comprising 40% by weight of palmitic acid and 58% by weight of C18 fatty acids. The reaction vessel is equipped with a vacuum inlet, a cold trap and a condenser heated to 70oC. The reaction mixture was heated to 150oC over approximately 20 minutes under reduced pressure (200 mbar). The temperature was gradually increased to 210oC, while the pressure was gradually decreased to 33 mbar over a period of 30 to 60 minutes. Once the final reaction temperature was reached the reaction mixture was left at these conditions for 5 hours. The crude oil that was obtained was then distilled at 240oC under reduced pressure to remove excess free fatty acids to yield the obtained vegetable oil composition enriched in C16:0 fatty acids containing 96% TAGs, 3% DAG and 0,5% FFA as shown in Table 24. Table 24: outcome of esterification process TAGDAG )(%weight)MAG (FFA (%weight%weight)(%weight)IVvegetable oil Belo composition96* 3**w detection limit**0.5* 53**** AOCS Official Method Cd 22-91 **the percentage of diglycerides and monoglycerides are given in % of acylglycerols and analyzed with AOCS Cd 11d-96 ***IUPAC 2.2057th ed. + supplement The FA composition of the oil is shown in table 25. Table 25: FA composition of vegetable oil composition FA composition of oil (%weight)%weight inSn2** %weight in Sn1 and Sn3C16:0* 40% 13% 27% C18:0* 2% 1% 1% C18:1* 50% 17% 33% C18:2* 6% 2% 4% C18:3* Below detection limit - - * Analyzed with IUPAC 2.304 ** Analyzed with IUPAC 2.210 Example 6 - Process for increasing the amount of palmitic acid of a vegetable oil composition The composition of a starting HOSO oil is shown in Table 26. Table 26: HOSO starting oil composition Fatty acids HOSO (%weight) Iodine value (IV)* 89 C16:0** 4% C18:0** 4% C18:1** 80% C18:2** 10% C18:3** 1% other 1% *Analyzed with IUPAC 2.2057th ed. + supplement ** Analyzed with IUPAC 2.304 The starting vegetable oil composition is split into free fatty acids, glycerol and water via a standard counter-current hydrolysis at high pressure and excess water. The FFA fraction is transferred to a distillation unit where the FFA are separated (split) into a palmitic acid rich fraction and a C18 rich fraction respectively. The resulting fractions have the compositions as shown in Table 27. In this case, approximately 10% of residual C18 fatty acids were found in the C16 rich fraction. Table 27: FFA fractions obtained from hydrolysis and fractional distillation of HOSO. Only C16:0 and C18 FFA are shown. Starting oil (%weight)C16:0 rich fractionC18 rich fraction (%weight)(%weight) Yield - 4% 96% C16:0* 4% 90%Below detection limit% C18:0* 4% Below detection limit 4% C18:1* 80% 8% 83% C18:2* 10% 1% 11% C18:3* 1% Below detection limit 1% * Analyzed with IUPAC 2.304 The C16:0 fraction is mixed with the C18 rich fraction so as to obtain the composition of the blend of free fatty acids shown in Table 28. Table 28: composition of FFA blend obtained from a HOSO starting vegetable oil composition. Only C16:0 and C18 FA are shown Starting C16:0 richStarting C18 rich Blend fraction (%weight)fraction (%weight) (%weight) amount by weight of final blend50% 50% 100%C16:0* 90% Below detection limit 45% C18:0* Below detection limit 4% 2% C18:1* 8% 83% 46% C18:2* 1% 11% 6% C18:3* Below detection limit 1% Belowdetection limit* Analyzed with IUPAC 2.304 Glycerol and the free fatty acid blend were then mixed in a reaction vessel in a ratio of 1:4 by mole (33% excess free fatty acids) where the fatty acid blend in this example is comprising 45% by weight of palmitic acid and 54% by weight of C18 fatty acids (composition of blend is shown in table 18) the reaction vessel is equipped with a vacuum inlet, a cold trap and a condenser heated to 70oC. The reaction mixture was heated to 150oC over approximately 20 minutes under reduced pressure (200 mbar). The temperature was gradually increased to 210oC, while the pressure was gradually decreased to 33 mbar over a period of 30 to 60 minutes. Once the final reaction temperature was reached the reaction mixture was left at these conditions for 5 hours. The crude oil that was obtained was then distilled at 240oC under reduced pressure to remove excess free fatty acids to yield the obtained vegetable oil composition enriched in C16:0 fatty acids containing 98% TAGs, 1% DAG and 0,5% FFA as shown in Table 29. Table 29: outcome of esterification process TAGDAGMAG (%weigFFA (%weight) (%weight)ht)(%weight)IVVegetable oil composition98* 1**Below detection limit**0.5* 50**** AOCS Official Method Cd 22-91 **the percentage of diglycerides and monoglycerides are given in % of acylglycerols and analyzed with AOCS Cd 11d-96 ***IUPAC 2.2057th ed. + supplement The FA composition of the oil is shown in table 30 Table 30: FA composition of vegetable oil composition FA composition of oil (%weight)%weight inSn2** %weight in Sn1 and Sn3C16:0* 45% 15% 30% C18:0* 2% 1% 1% C18:1* 46% 15% 31% C18:2* 6% 2% 4% C18:3* - - - * Analyzed with IUPAC 2.304 ** Analyzed with IUPAC 2.210 Example 7 - Process for increasing the amount of palmitic acid of a vegetable oil composition The composition of a starting HOSO oil is shown in Table 31. Table 31: starting HOSO oil composition Fatty acids HOSO (%weight) Iodine value (IV)* 89 C16:0** 4% C18:0** 4% C18:1** 80% C18:2** 10% C18:3** 1% other 1% *Analyzed with IUPAC 2.2057th ed. + supplement ** Analyzed with IUPAC 2.304 The starting vegetable oil composition is split into free fatty acids (FFA), glycerol and water via a standard counter-current hydrolysis at high pressure and excess water. The FFA fraction is transferred to a distillation unit where the FFA are split into a palmitic acid rich fraction and a C18 rich fraction respectively. The resulting fractions have the compositions as shown in Table 32. In this case, approximately 9% of residual C18 fatty acids were found in the C16 rich fraction. Table 32: FFA fractions obtained from hydrolysis and fractional distillation of HOSO. Only C16:0 and C18 FFA are shown Starting oil (%weight)C16:0 rich fractionC18 rich fraction (%weight)(%weight) Yield - 4% 96% C16:0* 4% 90%Below detection limit% C18:0* 4% Below detection limit 4% C18:1* 80% 8% 83% C18:2* 10% 1% 11% C18:3* 1% Below detection limit 1% * Analyzed with IUPAC 2.304 The C16:0 fraction is mixed with the C18 rich fraction so as to obtain the composition of the blend of free fatty acids shown in Table 33. Table 33 – composition of FFA blend obtained from a HOSO starting vegetable oil composition. Only C16:0 and C18 FA are shown. Starting C16:0 richStarting C18 rich Blend fraction (%weight)fraction (%weight) (%weight) amount by weight of final blend42% 58% 100%C16:0* 90% Below detection limit 37% C18:0* Below detection limit 4% 3% C18:1* 8% 83% 51% C18:2* 1% 11% 7% C18:3* Below detection limit 1% Belowdetection limit* Analyzed with IUPAC 2.304 Glycerol and the free fatty acid blend were then mixed in a reaction vessel in a ratio of 1:6 by mole (100% excess free fatty acids) where the fatty acid blend in this example is comprising 37% by weight of palmitic acid and 61% by weight of C18 fatty acids (composition of blend is shown in table 23) the reaction vessel is equipped with a vacuum inlet, a cold trap and a condenser heated to 70oC. The reaction mixture was heated to 150oC over approximately 20 minutes under reduced pressure (200 mbar). The temperature was gradually increased to 210oC, while the pressure was gradually decreased to 33 mbar over a period of 30 to 60 minutes. Once the final reaction temperature was reached the reaction mixture was left at these conditions for 3 hours. The crude oil that was obtained was then distilled at 240oC under reduced pressure to remove excess free fatty acids to yield the obtained vegetable oil composition enriched in C16:0 fatty acids containing 94% TAGs, 3% DAG and 1% FFA as shown in Table 34. Table 34: Outcome of the esterification reaction TAGDAG FFA (%weight) (%weight)MAG (%weight)(%weight)IVvegetable oil Below detection composition94* 3**limit**1* 56**** AOCS Official Method Cd 22-91 **the percentage of diglycerides and monoglycerides are given in % of acylglycerols and analyzed with AOCS Cd 11d-96 ***IUPAC 2.2057th ed. + supplement The FA composition of the oil is shown in Table 35. Table 35: FA composition of vegetable oil composition FA composition of oil (%weight) %weight in Sn2** %weight in Sn1 and Sn3 C16:0* 37% 12% 25% C18:0* 3% 1% 2% C18:1* 51% 17% 34% C18:2* 7% 2% 5% C18:3* Below detection limit Below detection limit Below detection limit * Analyzed with IUPAC 2.304 ** Analyzed with IUPAC 2.210 Example 8 - Process for increasing the amount of palmitic acid of a vegetable oil composition The composition of a starting safflower oil is shown in Table 36. Table 36: composition Safflower starting oil composition Fatty acids Safflower (%weight) Iodine value (IV)* 144 C16:0** 7% C18:0** 3% C18:1** 14% C18:2** 75% C18:3** Below detection limit other 1% *Analyzed with IUPAC 2.2057th ed. + supplement ** Analyzed with IUPAC 2.304 The starting vegetable oil composition is split into free fatty acids, glycerol and water via a standard counter-current hydrolysis at high pressure and excess water. The FFA fraction is transferred to a distillation unit where the FFA are split into a palmitic acid rich fraction and a C18 rich fraction respectively. The resulting fractions have the compositions as shown in Table 37. In this case, approximately 19% of residual C18 fatty acids were found in the C16 rich fraction. Table 37: FFA fractions obtained from hydrolysis and fractional distillation of safflower oil. Only C16:0 and C18 FFA are shown. Starting oil (%weight)C16:0 rich fractionC18 rich fraction (%weight)(%weight) Yield 9% 91% C16:0* 7% 80% Below detection limit C18:0* 3% Below detection limit 3% C18:1* 14% 3% 15% C18:2* 75% 16% 81% C18:3* Below detection limit Below detection limit Below detection limit * Analyzed with IUPAC 2.304 The C16:0 fraction is mixed with the C18 rich fraction so as to obtain the composition of the blend of free fatty acids shown in Table 38. Table 38: composition of FFA blend obtained from a safflower starting oil composition. Only C16:0 and C18 FA are shown Starting C16:0 richStarting C18 rich Blend fraction (%weight)fraction (%weight) (%weight) amount by weight of final blend50% 50% 100%C16:0* 80% Below detection limit 40% C18:0* Below detection limit 3% 2% C18:1* 3% 15% 9% C18:2* 15% 81% 48% C18:3* Below detection limit Below detection limit Belowdetection limit* Analyzed with IUPAC 2.304 Glycerol and the free fatty acid blend were then mixed in a reaction vessel in a ratio of 1:6 by mole (100% excess free fatty acids) where the fatty acid blend in this example is comprising 40% by weight of palmitic acid and 59% by weight of C18 fatty acids (composition of blend is shown in table 28) the reaction vessel is equipped with a vacuum inlet, a cold trap and a condenser heated to 70oC. The reaction mixture was heated to 150oC over approximately 20 minutes under reduced pressure (200 mbar). The temperature was gradually increased to 210oC, while the pressure was gradually decreased to 33 mbar over a period of 30 to 60 minutes. Once the final reaction temperature was reached the reaction mixture was left at these conditions for 3 hours. The crude oil that was obtained was then distilled at 240oC under reduced pressure to remove excess free fatty acids to yield the obtained created vegetable oil composition enriched in C16:0 fatty acids containing 93% TAGs, 4% DAG and 1% FFA as shown in Table 39. Table 39: outcome of esterification reaction TAGDAG MAG FFA (%weight)(%weight) (%weight)(%weight)IVvegetable oil composition93* 4**Below detection limit**1* 91**** AOCS Official Method Cd 22-91 **the percentage of diglycerides and monoglycerides are given in % of acylglycerols and analyzed with AOCS Cd 11d-96 ***IUPAC 2.2057th ed. + supplement The FA composition of the oil is shown in table 40. Table 40: FA composition of vegetable oil composition FA composition of oil (%weight) %weight in Sn2** %weight in Sn1 and Sn3 C16:0* 40% 13% 27% C18:0* 2% 1% 1% C18:1* 9% 3% 6% C18:2* 48% 16% 32% C18:3* Below detection limit - - * Analyzed with IUPAC 2.304 ** Analyzed with IUPAC 2.210 Example 9 - Process for increasing the amount of palmitic acid of a vegetable oil composition The composition of a starting soybean oil is shown in Table 41. Table 41: starting soybean oil composition Fatty acids Soybean oil (%weight) Iodine value (IV)* 133 C16:0** 11% C18:0** 4% C18:1** 22% C18:2** 54% C18:3** 8% other 1% *Analyzed with IUPAC 2.2057th ed. + supplement ** Analyzed with IUPAC 2.304 The starting vegetable oil composition is split into free fatty acids, glycerol and water via a standard counter-current hydrolysis at high pressure and excess water. The FFA fraction is transferred to a distillation unit where the FFA are separated split into a palmitic acid rich fraction and a C18 rich fraction respectively. The resulting fractions have the compositions as shown in Table 42. In this case, approximately 8% of residual C18 fatty acids were found in the C16 rich fraction. Table 42: FFA fractions obtained from hydrolysis and fractional distillation of soybean oil. Only C16:0 and C18 FFA are shown Starting oil (%weight)C16:0 rich fractionC18 rich fraction (%weight)(%weight) Yield 12% 88% C16:0* 11% 90% 0% C18:0* 4% Below detection limit 5% C18:1* 22% 2% 25% C18:2* 54% 6% 60% C18:3* 8% 1% 9% * Analyzed with IUPAC 2.304 The C16:0 fraction is mixed with the C18 rich fraction so as to obtain the composition of the blend of free fatty acids shown in Table 43. Table 43: FFA composition of the blend were only C16:0 and C18 FA are shown Starting C16:0 richStarting C18 rich fraction Blend fraction (%weight)(%weight) (%weight) amount by weight of final blend44% 56% 100%C16:0* 90% Below detection limit 40% C18:0* Below detection limit 5% 3% C18:1* 2% 25% 15% C18:2* 5% 60% 36% C18:3* 1% 9% 5% * Analyzed with IUPAC 2.304 Glycerol and the free fatty acid blend were then mixed in a reaction vessel in a ratio of 1:6 by mole (100% excess free fatty acids) where the fatty acid blend in this example is comprising 40% by weight of palmitic acid and 59% by weight of C18 fatty acids (starting oil is soybean oil, composition of blend is shown in table 33) the reaction vessel is equipped with a vacuum inlet, a cold trap and a condenser heated to 70oC. The reaction mixture was heated to 150oC over approximately 20 minutes under reduced pressure (200 mbar). The temperature was gradually increased to 210oC, while the pressure was gradually decreased to 33 mbar over a period of 30 to 60 minutes. Once the final reaction temperature was reached the reaction mixture was left at these conditions for 3 hours. The crude oil that was obtained was then distilled at 240oC under reduced pressure to remove excess free fatty acids to yield the obtained vegetable oil composition enriched in C16:0 fatty acids containing 96% TAGs, 2% DAG and 0,5% FFA as shown in Table 44. Table 44: outcome of the esterification reaction TAGDAG MAFFA (%weight) (%weight)G (%weight)(%weight)IVvegetable oil Bel omposition96ow detection c* 2**limit**0,5* 88**** AOCS Official Method Cd 22-91 **the percentage of diglycerides and monoglycerides are given in % of acylglycerols and analyzed with AOCS Cd 11d-96 ***IUPAC 2.2057th ed. + supplement The FA composition of the oil is shown in table 45. Table 45: FA composition of vegetable oil composition FA composition of oil (%weight) %weight in Sn2** %weight in Sn1 and Sn3 C16:0* 40% 13% 27% C18:0* 3% 1% 2% C18:1* 15% 5% 10% C18:2* 36% 12% 24% C18:3* 5% 2% 3% * Analyzed with IUPAC 2.304 ** Analyzed with IUPAC 2.210 Example 10 - Process for increasing the amount of palmitic acid of a vegetable oil composition The composition of a starting coconut oil is shown in Table 46. Table 46: Coconut starting oil composition Fatty acidsCoconut oil(%weight)C8:0* 8% C10:0* 6% C12:0* 47% C14:0* 18% C16:0* 9% C18:0* 3% C18:1* 7% C18:2* 2% C18:3* 0% * Analyzed with IUPAC 2.304 The starting vegetable oil composition is split into free fatty acids, glycerol and water via a standard counter-current hydrolysis at high pressure and excess water. The FFA fraction is transferred to a distillation unit where the FFA are split into a C8:0-C14:0 rich fraction (fraction no.2) and a C16-C18 rich fraction (fraction no.3) respectively. The C16-C18 fraction can then further be distilled to obtain a C16:0 (fraction no.4) and C18 (fraction no.5) rich fraction. The resulting fractions have the compositions as shown in Table 47. Table 47: FFA fractions obtained from hydrolysis and fractional distillation of Coconut oil. 1 2 3 4 5 Fraction No. Starting oil C8:0-C14:0 C16-C18 rich C16 rich C18 rich rich fraction fraction fraction fraction (%weight) (%weight) (%weight) (%weight) (%weight) Yield - 83.5% 16.5% 7.5% 9.0% IV** 9 1 45 3 79 C8:0* 8% 10% - - - C10:0* 6% 7% - - - C12:0* 47% 57% - - - C14:0* 18% 22% - - - C16:0* 9% 2% 44% 96% - C18:0* 3% 1% 13% 1% 23% C18:1* 7% 1% 36% 3% 64% C18:2* 2% - 8% 1% 14% * Analyzed with IUPAC 2.304 **IUPAC 2.2057th ed. + supplement The FFA fractions are mixed in different ratios as shown, see Table 48. Table 48 – Compositions of three blends used as examples FractionBlend 1 Blend 2 Blend31 20% - - 2 - - - 3 80% - - 4 - 42% 47% 5 - 58% 53% The free fatty acid compositions of the 3 blends are shown in Table 49. Table 49 – FFA composition of the 3 blends obtained from a starting coconut vegetable oil composition. Blend No. 1 2 3 IV** 37 47 42 C8:0* 2% - - C10:0* 1% - - C12:0* 9% - - C14:0* 4% - - C16:0* 37% 40% 45% C18:0* 11% 14% 12% C18:1* 30% 38% 35% C18:2* 6% 8% 7% * Analyzed with IUPAC 2.304 **IUPAC 2.2057th ed. + supplement In three separate reactions, glycerol and the free fatty acid blend in question were mixed in a reaction vessel in a ratio of 1:4 by mole (33% excess free fatty acids). The reaction vessel is equipped with a vacuum inlet, a cold trap and a condenser heated to 70oC. The reaction mixture was heated to 150oC over approximately 20 minutes under reduced pressure (200 mbar). The temperature was gradually increased to 210oC, while the pressure was gradually decreased to 33 mbar over a period of 30 to 60 minutes. Once the final reaction temperature of 210oC was reached the reaction mixture was left at these conditions for 4,5 hours. The crude oil that was obtained was then distilled at 240oC under reduced pressure to remove excess free fatty acids to yield the obtained created vegetable oil compositions enriched in C16:0 fatty acids. The outcome of the three esterif ied blends is shown in Table 50. Table 50: Outcome of the esterification reaction TAGDAG MAGFFA (%weight) (%weight)(%weight)(%weight) Esterification of blend 1Esterification of blend 2 94* 3**Below detectionend 3lim 1*Esterification of blit*** AOCS Official Method Cd 22-91 **the percentage of diglycerides and monoglycerides are given in % of acylglycerols and analyzed with AOCS Cd 11d-96 The FA composition of the oil is shown in Table 51. Table 51: FA composition of the vegetable oil compositions of the three blends FA IV*** composition %weight in %weight in of oil Sn2** Sn1 and Sn3 (%weight) C8:0*2% 1% 1%C10:0*1% 0% 1%C12:0*9% 3% 6%C14:0*4% 1% 2%37 Blend 1C16:0*37% 12% 24%C18:0*11% 4% 7%C18:1*30% 10% 20%C18:2*6% 2% 4%Ratio of C16:0 / C18:03.36 - -C16:0*40% 13% 27%C18:0*14% 5% 9%Blend 2C18:1*47 38% 13% 25%C18:2*8% 3% 5%Ratio of C16:0 / C18:02.85 - -C16:0*45% 15% 30%C18:0*12% 4% 8%d 3C42 Blen18:1*35% 12% 23%C18:2*7% 2% 5%Ratio of C16:0 / C18:03.75 - -* Analyzed with IUPAC 2.304 ** Analyzed with IUPAC 2.210 ***IUPAC 2.2057th ed. + supplement It can be seen that by using coconut oil in the process according to the present invention as shown in Example 10, a vegetable oil composition having high content of palmitic acid can be obtained when compared to palm oil or any fraction of palm oil. Furthermore, the content of stearic acid (C18:0) in the vegetable oil composition obtained from coconut oil is higher than the content of stearic acid (C18:0) in the vegetable oil composition obtained from palm oil (Example 11). Thus, the vegetable oil composition obtained from coconut oil provides a weight ratio of C16:0 to C18:0 close to the ratios found in human mothers’ milk fat. Example 11 - Comparative example Fatty acid composition of palm oil and fractions of palm oil Table 52: Comparative Example Fatty acid composition of palm oil and fractions of palm oil Palm oil Palm olein IV 56 Palm olein IV 61 FA composition of oil (%weight) C16:0* 43% 39% 38% C16:0 (in Sn2)**7% 4% 5%C18:0* 4,5% 4 4 C18:1* 40% 43 45 C18:2* 10% 11 13 C18:3* 0.2% 0.2 0.2 * Analyzed with IUPAC 2.304 ** Analyzed with IUPAC 2.210 It can be seen that by using the process according to the present invention as shown in Examples 1 to 10, a vegetable oil composition having a similar content of palmitic acid, , can be obtained when compared to palm oil or any fraction of palm oil. The process according to the present invention provides an important enrichment of palmitic acid in the starting vegetable oil composition in an efficient way. The process efficiently utilizes the palmitic acid in the starting oil composition having a low content of palmitic acid. Thus, a created vegetable oil composition not originated from oils such as palm, palm kernel oils and oils derived therefrom can be used for infant nutrition.

Claims

Claims 1. A process for increasing the amount of palmitic acid of a starting vegetable oil composition, wherein the process comprises the steps of: A). Providing the starting vegetable oil composition comprising less than 35% by weight of palmitic acid in the triglycerides compared to the total weight of fatty acids in the triglycerides in the starting vegetable oil composition; said starting vegetable oil composition being not selected from palm oil, palm kernel oil, oils derived therefrom and any combination thereof, B). Subjecting said starting vegetable oil composition to a hydrolysis or alcoholysis process so as to form glycerol, free fatty acids and / or non- glyceride esters thereof; C). Distilling said free fatty acids and / or non-glyceride esters thereof obtained in step B) to obtain at least a fatty acid composition rich in palmitic acid; D). Performing an esterif ication of glycerol, said fatty acid composition rich in palmitic acid and / or nonglyceride esters thereof, and optionally a supplemental fatty acid composition, and / or non-glyceride esters thereof, so as to form a crude vegetable oil blend; E). Separating the crude vegetable oil blend to obtain a mixture of residue reactants and a created vegetable oil composition.

2. The process according to claim 1, wherein the starting vegetable oil composition comprises less than 30%, such as less than 25%, such as less than 20%, or such as less than 12% by weight of palmitic acid in the triglycerides compared to the total weight of fatty acids in the triglycerides.

3. The process according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the starting vegetable oil composition comprises at least 1% by weight of palmitic acid in the triglycerides compared to the total weight of fatty acids in the triglycerides.

4. The process according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the starting vegetable oil composition comprises from 2 to 12% by weight of palmitic acid in the triglycerides compared to the total weight of fatty acids in the triglycerides.

5. The process according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the starting vegetable oil composition is selected from the group: sunflower oil, rapeseed oil, canola oil, safflower oil, corn oil, coconut oil, rice bran oil, high oleic sunflower oil, high oleic rapeseed, shea oil, soybean oil, oils derived therefrom and any combination thereof.

6. The process according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the starting vegetable oil composition is free of pequi oil, sea buckthorn oil, cheru seed oil, palash seed oil, oils derived therefrom and any combination thereof.

7. The process according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the starting vegetable oil composition is free of hydrogenated oils.

8. The process according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the starting vegetable oil composition has an iodine value of at least 6, preferably at least 8, more preferably at least 15, such as at least 20, such as at least 25, such as at least 30, such as at least 35, such as at least 40, such as at least 45, such as at least 50, such as at least 55, or such as at least 60.

9. The process according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the starting vegetable oil composition has an iodine value of 160 or less, such as 150 or less, such as 140 or less, such as 130 or less.

10. The process according to any of the preceding claims, wherein in step B), the free fatty acids comprise C16:0 fatty acids and C18 fatty acids, and / or non- glyceride esters thereof.

11. The process according to any of the preceding claims, wherein in step B), the free fatty acids comprise palmitic acid and lauric acid (C12:0) , and / or non- glyceride esters thereof.

12. The process according to any of the preceding claims, wherein step B) further comprises separating said free fatty acids and / or non-glyceride esters thereof from said glycerol and any water / alcohol.

13. The process according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the process further comprises using the obtained glycerol of said step B) in the esterif ication step D).

14. The process according to any of the preceding claims, wherein in step C), a fatty acid composition rich in lauric acid and / or a fatty acid composition rich in in C18-fatty acids and / or non-glyceride esters thereof is also obtained.

15. The process according to any of the preceding claims, wherein after step C), the fatty acid composition rich in palmitic acid and / or nonglyceride esters thereof comprises at least 30% by weight of palmitic acid, such as at least 35% % by weight of palmitic acid, for example at least 40% by weight of palmitic acid, preferably at least 50% by weight of palmitic acid, more preferably at least 75% by weight of palmitic acid, preferably from 85% to 97% by weight of palmitic acid and for example from 90% to 99% by weight of palmitic acid.

16. The process according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the supplemental fatty acid composition of step D) is a fatty acid composition rich in C18-fatty acids and / or nonglyceride esters thereof.

17. The process according to claim 16, wherein the process comprises using the obtained fatty acid composition rich in C18-fatty acids and / or nonglyceride esters thereof of step C) in the esterif ication step D).

18. The process according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the esterification in step D) comprises the sub-steps of: i). blending the fatty acid composition rich in palmitic acid and / or non- glyceride esters thereof, optionally the fatty acid composition, with glycerol so as to form a glycerol and free fatty acid mixture blend; ii). heating said blend under reduced pressure over a period of time; iii). further increasing the temperature and heating said blend over a period of time and simultaneously lowering the pressure further compared to step ii) iv). keeping said blend at the temperature and pressure of step iii) for a period of time.

19. The process according to claim 18, wherein the blend in step ii) is heated to at least 140 °C.

20. The process according to claim 16 or 17, wherein the blend in step ii) is heated to maximum 240 °C.

21. The process according to any one of claims 18 to 20, wherein the blend in step iii) is heated to at least 160 °C.

22. The process according to any one of claims 18 to 21, wherein the blend in step iii) is heated to a maximum of 250 °C.

23. The process according to any one of claims 18 to 22, wherein the period of time in step ii) or in step iii) is in the range of 15 minutes to 5 hours, such as in the range of 30 minutes to 4 hours.

24. The process according to any of the preceding claims, wherein during the esterif ication step D), the distribution of fatty acids on sn1, sn2 and sn3 positions on the glycerol backbone is statistical.

25. The process according to any preceding claims, wherein the process comprises a further step of using residue reactants obtained during the process and recycling them back into the process.

26. The process according to claim 25, wherein the step of using residue reactants obtained during the process and recycling them back into the process comprises using the mixture of residue reactants obtained from step E) and providing them in the esterif ication step D).

27. The process according to any of the preceding claims, wherein in step E), the residue reactants comprise any free fatty acids and / or non-glyceride esters thereof, monoglycerides, glycerol, water that have not reacted in the esterif ication step D).

28. The process according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the separation of step E) is realized by distillation.

29. The process according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the process further comprises bleaching and / or neutralization and / or deodorization of the resulting vegetable oil composition of the separation of step E).

30. The process according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the content of the palmitic acid in the created vegetable oil composition is more than twice as high as in the starting vegetable oil composition.

31. The process according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the content of the palmitic acid in the created vegetable oil composition is more than two-and- a-half times as high as in the starting vegetable oil composition.

32. The process according to any of the preceding claims, wherein no chemical catalyst is used in any of the process steps.

33. The process according to any of the preceding claims, wherein no enzyme is used in any of the process steps.

34. The process according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the process comprises a single esterif ication step D).

35. A created vegetable oil composition having from 20% to 60% by weight of palmitic acid in the triglycerides compared to the total weight of fatty acids in the triglycerides in the created vegetable oil composition, said created vegetable oil composition being not originated from palm oil, palm kernel oil and oils derived therefrom, wherein the proportion of palmitic acid in sn2-position out of total palmitic acid in the triglycerides of the vegetable oil composition is in the range of from 25 to 35% 36. The created vegetable oil composition according to claim 35, wherein the proportion of palmitic acid in sn2-position out of total palmitic acid in the triglycerides of the vegetable oil composition is in the range of from 25 to 35%, preferably of from 30 and 35%, by weight of palmitic acid (C16:0) present in the sn2-position out of total palmitic acid in the triglycerides of the vegetable oil composition.

37. The created vegetable oil composition according to claim 35 or 36, wherein the proportion of palmitic acid in sn2-position out of total palmitic acid in the triglycerides of the created vegetable oil composition is of 33%.

38. The created vegetable oil composition according to any one of claims 35 to 37, wherein the created vegetable oil composition comprises from 30% to 60% by weight of palmitic acid in the triglycerides compared to the total weight of fatty acids in the triglycerides in the created vegetable oil composition, such as from 35% to 60%, and preferably from 35 to 50%.

39. The created vegetable oil composition according to any one of claims 35 to 38, wherein the created vegetable oil composition comprises less than 4% by weight, preferably less than 2% by weight, of palmitoleic acid (C16:1) present in the triglycerides compared to the total weight of fatty acids in the triglycerides in the created vegetable oil composition.

40. The created vegetable oil composition according to any one of claims 35 to 39, wherein the created vegetable oil composition comprises less than 10% by weight, preferably less than 8% by weight, and advantageously less than 6% of linolenic acid (C18:3) present in the triglycerides compared to the total weight of fatty acids in the triglycerides in the created vegetable oil composition.

41. The created vegetable oil composition according to any one of claims 35 to 40, wherein the created vegetable oil composition comprises less than 5% by weight, preferably less than 4% by weight, of stearic acid (C18:0) present in the triglycerides compared to the total weight of fatty acids in the triglycerides in the created vegetable oil composition.

42. The created vegetable oil composition according to any one of claims 35 to 40, wherein the created vegetable oil composition comprises of from 5 to 25% by weight, preferably of from 8 to 20% by weight, and advantageously of from 10 to 20% of stearic acid (C18:0) present in the triglycerides compared to the total weight of fatty acids in the triglycerides in the created vegetable oil composition.

43. The created vegetable oil composition according to any one of claims 35 to 42, wherein the created vegetable oil composition has a total weight ratio of palmitic acid (C16:0) to stearic acid (C18:0) of from 2:1 to 5:1, preferably of from 2:1 to 4:

1.

44. The created vegetable oil composition according to any one of claims 35 to 43, wherein the created vegetable oil composition comprises less than 5% by weight, preferably less than 3% by weight, of C20 to C24 fatty acids present in the triglycerides compared to the total weight of fatty acids in the triglycerides in the created vegetable oil composition.

45. The created vegetable oil composition according to any one of claims 35 to 44, wherein the created vegetable oil composition comprises less than 10% by weight, preferably less than 8% by weight, advantageously less than 6% and for example less than 4.5% by weight of C8, C10, C12 and C14 fatty acids present in the triglycerides compared to the total weight of fatty acids in the triglycerides in the created vegetable oil composition.

46. The created vegetable oil composition according to any one of claims 35 to 45, wherein the created vegetable oil composition is not originated from pequi oil, sea buckthorn oil, cheru seed oil, palash seed oil, and oils derived therefrom.

47. The created vegetable oil composition according to any one of claims 35 to 46, wherein the created vegetable oil composition is not originated from hydrogenated oils.

48. The created vegetable oil composition according to any one of claims 35 to 47, wherein the created vegetable oil composition does not comprise an interesterif ied oil and / or phospholipids.

49. The created vegetable oil composition according to any one of claims 35 to 47, wherein a starting vegetable oil composition is selected from: sunflower oil, rapeseed oil, canola oil, safflower oil, corn oil, high oleic sunflower oil, high oleic rapeseed, shea oil, coconut oil, rice bran oil, soybean oil, oils derived therefrom and any combination thereof.in the manufacture of an infant formula.

51. Use of a created vegetable oil composition according to any of claims 35 to 49 in the manufacture of a plant-based food product.

52. An infant formula comprising from 5% to 100% by weight of a created vegetable oil composition according to any of claims 34 to 49 in the manufacture of a plant-based food product.

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