Patent ID: 6891091

Claim:
A method for producing sunflower seed having a desirable triacylglycerol profile, comprising: (a) treating parent sunflower seed 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; (b) germinating the treated parent seed of step (a) and culturing progeny plants therefrom; (c) selecting progeny sunflower seed from the progeny plants of step (b) comprising an oil in which at least 3.4% of the triacylglycerol species in the oil have the formula SMS, not more than 12.8% of the triacylglycerol species in the oil have the formula SMM, and the oil comprises at least 12% stearic acid by weight relative to the total amount of fatty acids in the oil, wherein the formulae denote from left to right the first, second, and third fatty acid in the triacylglycerol, S represents a saturated fatty acid, and M represents a monoenic fatty acid; (d) germinating the selected seed of step (c) and culturing progeny plants therefrom; and (e) collecting seed from the plants of step (d) or their progeny having the triacylglycerol profile of the seed of step (c).