Short-chain specific acyl-CoA dehydrogenase is one of the acyl-CoA dehydrogenases that catalyze the first step of mitochondrial fatty acid beta-oxidation, an aerobic process breaking down fatty acids into acetyl-CoA and allowing the production of energy from fats (By similarity). The first step of fatty acid beta-oxidation consists in the removal of one hydrogen from C-2 and C-3 of the straight-chain fatty acyl-CoA thioester, resulting in the formation of trans-2-enoyl-CoA (By similarity). Among the different mitochondrial acyl-CoA dehydrogenases, short-chain specific acyl-CoA dehydrogenase acts specifically on acyl-CoAs with saturated 4 to 6 carbons long primary chains (PubMed:11134486, PubMed:21237683).