Changes in acyl-coenzyme A pools in sunflower seeds with modified fatty acid composition

► Sunflower mutants with altered fatty acid composition. ► Studies of acyl-CoAs by derivatization to acyl-etheno derivatives and HPLC-fluorescence. ► Accumulation of saturated acyl-CoAs and decrease of 18:2-CoA in the high saturated mutants. ► Decrease of triacylglycerol synthesis rate. ► Metabolic constraints in the accumulation of saturated fatty acids in sunflower.