Sunflower oil having a high stearic acid content

Abstract

The invention relates to a sunflower seed, comprising a sunflower oil having an increased stearic acid content as compared to wild type seeds, obtainable by treating parent seeds with a mutagenic agent during a period of time and in a concentration sufficient to induce one or more mutations in the genetic trait involved in stearic acid biosynthesis resulting in an increased production of stearic acid, germinating the treated seeds and culturing progeny plants therefrom, collecting and analyzing progeny seeds, selecting seeds that have acquired the desirable genetic trait and optionally repeating the cycle of germination, culturing and collection of seeds. Preferably the seeds comprise an oil having a stearic acid content of between 19.1 and 35 % by weight related to the total amount of fatty acids in the oil, and are obtainable by treating the parent seeds with an alkylating agent, such as ethyl methane sulfonate in water, or with sodium azide in water. The invention further relates to sunflower oil obtainable by extracting the sunflower seeds, to a method for preparing sunflower seeds having an increased stearic acid content as compared to wild type seeds, a method for preparing a sunflower oil having an increased stearic acid content sunflower plants produced from the seeds and the use of the sunflower oil in various products.