Production of unusual fatty acids in rapeseed

Vegetable-derived oils are of interest for industrial applications partly because of the chemical similarity of plant oils to mineral oils but also because of the economic need to reduce overproduction of seed oils for nutritional use. Complex oils can be produced in seeds as a low cost agricultural product based on renewable solar energy that requires less refining and is biodegradable and thus produces less adverse effects on the environment. In addition, biotechnologies have accelerated selection programmes and increased the genetic diversity available for the development of new varieties of oilseeds with specific fatty acid compositions. In the developing oilseed, energy and carbon are stored as lipid under the form of triacylglycerol, that is, a glycerol molecule to which three fatty acids are esterified. Fatty acids comprise a linear chain of carbon atoms, the first of which carries an organic acid group. The chain length and the presence of double bonds determine the properties of the fatty acid which in turn determine the physical and chemical properties of the oil of storage lipids and hence their economic value. In addition to the common C16- and C18-saturated and unsaturated fatty acids of membrane lipids, the seed storage lipids of many plant species contain unusual fatty acids (UFAs) which can vary in chain length, in the degree of unsaturation, possess double bonds in unusual positions, or can contain additional functional groups such as hydroxy, epoxy, cyclic and acetylenic groups [1]. These unusual fatty acids are of value as industrial feedstocks and their uses include the production of fuels and lubricants, soap and detergents, paints and varnishes, adhesives and plastics (Figure 1).