Processes for producing industrial products from plant lipids

A process for producing an oil product from plant oil, the process comprising the steps of:

• i) obtaining a vegetative plant part having a total non-polar lipid content of between 30% and 75% (w/w dry weight),
• ii) either
• a) converting at least some of the lipid in the vegetative plant part of step i) to the oil product by treating, in a reactor, a composition comprising (1) the vegetative plant part, (2) a solvent which comprises water, an alcohol, or both, and (3) optionally a catalyst, or
• b) physically processing the vegetative plant part of step i), and converting at least some of the lipid in the processed vegetative plant part to the oil product by treating, in a reactor, a composition comprising (1) the processed vegetative plant part, (2) a solvent which comprises water, an alcohol, or both, and (3) optionally a catalyst, and
• iii) recovering the oil product,
• a) at a yield of between 36% and 60% by weight relative to the dry weight of the vegetative plant parts if the solvent is water, or
• b) at a yield of between 36% and 70% by weight relative to the dry weight of the vegetative plant parts if the solvent comprises an alcohol,
• wherein the treating comprises heating the composition at a temperature between 50° C. and 450° C. and at a pressure between 5 and 350 bar for between 1 and 120 minutes in an oxidative, reductive or inert environment, thereby producing the oil product.