## 3 Results and Discussion
### Macro- and Micro-Element Composition of Composite Flours and Cookies  
The macro-element and the micro-element contents of buckwheat flour, baobab flour, buckwheat/baobab composite flours, and the resulting cookies are shown in Table 4.  
Minerals are important for maintaining the body's overall physical and mental health and contribute to the maintenance and development of muscles, nerve cells, teeth, bones, tissues, and blood. They also play a crucial role in maintaining the immune system. Conversely, deficiencies in these minerals can lead to poor growth, bone loss, reduced appetite, hypogonadism, and cognitive impairment [50; 51; 52; 53]. These results are similar to \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multicolumn{1}{c}{**Samples**} & \multicolumn{5}{c}{**Miner and Micro-Element Content (mg/g)**} \\ \hline  & **Fe** & **Zn** & **Ni** & **Ca** & **Mg** & **Ca** & **Mn** \\ \hline  & & & & & & & & \\  & & & & & & & & \\  & & & & & & & & \\ \hline  & & & & & & & & \\ \hline  & & & & & & & & \\ \hline  & & & & & & & & \\ \hline  & & & & & & & & \\ \hline  & & & & & & & & \\ \hline  & & & & & & & & \\ \hline  & & & & & & & & \\ \hline  & & & & & & & & \\ \hline  & & & & & & & & \\ \hline  & & & & & & & & \\ \hline  & & & & & & & & \\ \hline  & & & & & & & & \\ \hline  & & & & & & & & \\ \hline  & & & & & & & & \\ \hline  & & & & & & & & \\ \hline  & & & & & & & & \\ \hline \hline  & & & & & & & & \\ \hline  & & & & & & & & \\ \hline  & & & & & & & & \\ \hline  & & & & & & & & \\ \hline  & & & & & & & & \\ \hline  & & & & & & & & \\ \hline  & & & & & & & & \\ \hline \hline  & & & & & & & & \\ \hline \hline  & & & & & & & & \\ \hline  & & & & & & & & \\ \hline \hline  & & & & & & & & \\ \hline \hline  & & & & & & & & \\ \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 4: Macro- and micro-element content of various samples. those of [6; 7], who estimated that buckwheat contains higher amounts of essential minerals compared to wheat. These results are also in line with those of [26] for baobab. The results also reveal that, apart from zinc (Zn) and manganese (Mn), BF is richer than BWF in all the other minerals studied. Moreover, potassium (K) is the dominant macro-element in both baobab and buckwheat, with 13,276.47 \(\pm\) 174 mg/kg and 1255.35 \(\pm\) 58.92 mg/kg, respectively. Several authors, [26; 27; 47; 49] on the one hand and [12; 44] on the other, have revealed in their respective studies that potassium (K) is the dominant macro-element in BF and BWF. Furthermore, the value found for potassium is in the range of those obtained by [26; 27; 47; 49], i.e., ranging from 9875 to 2390 mg/kg for BF. Similarly, the results for BWF in this study were in the same range as those obtained by [12; 44] (between 1087.8 and 6487 mg/kg). K is also the major macro-element in buckwheat/baobab composite flows and cookies according to Table 4. Also, samples (flours and cookies) with high quantities of baobab flour were the richest in K. This can be explained by the abundance of K in BF compared to BWF (Table 4). It can therefore be deduced that BF would contribute more K to buckwheat gluten-free fortified cookies. All these results were also reported by [26; 26; 34] in their various studies. A total of 100 g BBC3 would cover up to 6% of an adult's daily K requirement recommended by the World Health Organization (3510 mg/day) [54]. Calcium (Ca) is the most prevalent mineral in the body. Beyond its function in keeping bones strong and stable, calcium takes part in a plethora of metabolic processes that include cell adhesion, blood clotting, cell differentiation and growth, the release of hormones and neurotransmitters, muscle constriction, and glycogen metabolism. It serves as a crucial constituent of teeth and bones [53]. In this study, Ca was higher in BF compared to BWF (1570.67 \(\pm\) 29.67 mg/kg vs. 181.55 \(\pm\) 3.24 mg/kg). The Ca content obtained for baobab flour in this study does not fall within the range (between 237.03 and 370 mg/100 g) obtained by other researchers [26; 27; 45; 46; 47; 49].