The invention relates to a sunflower seed, comprising sunflower oil having increased stearic acid content as compared to wild type seeds preferably between 19.1 and 35% by weight related to the total amount of fatty acids in the oil, 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 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. The invention further relates to oil extracted from the seeds, to a method for preparing the sunflower seeds, a method for preparing such sunflower oil, sunflower plants produced from the seeds and use of the oil.