## 3 Results and Discussion
### Mineral Analysis  
Table 3 shows the mineral composition of WEM powder, consisting of 10 macro and microelements expressed as mg/kg of the dry weight. Potassium was the highest macro element found in the WEM powder, consistent with earlier studies on the _Auricularia_ species [45, 57, 58]. Meanwhile, the calcium and magnesium in WEM were lower than previous findings from Cameroon at 886.2 mg/kg and 835.4 mg/kg, respectively [59]. The sodium content reported in this study (68.929 \(\pm\) 1.72 mg/kg) was the lowest macro-element, which was lower than an earlier study (109.1 mg/kg) [59]. Furthermore, WEM contained more potassium and calcium than magnesium and sodium, which agrees with the study by [PERSON] et al. [40]. Iron and zinc have been reported as the highest micro elements found in _Auricularia_ species (50-100 mg/kg), while the presence of copper, manganese, chromium, and selenium, was less than 20 mg/kg of dry weight. The amount of iron and zinc in this study was the highest for microelements, but at lower levels (50 mg/kg) compared to previous \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Instant Noodles**} & \multicolumn{6}{c}{**Proximate Composition (\%)**} \\ \cline{2-7}  & **Moisture** & **Ash** & **Protein** & **Fat** & **Crude Fibre** & **Carbohydrate** \\ \hline Control & 10.61 \(\pm\) 0.18 a & 1.36 \(\pm\) 0.02 b & 11.86\(\pm\) 0.01 a & 0.21 \(\pm\) 0.04 a & 3.36 \(\pm\) 0.25 b & 72.70 \(\pm\) 0.32 a \\
5\% WEM & 10.47 \(\pm\) 0.45 a & 2.87 \(\pm\) 0.03 a & 11.37 \(\pm\) 0.06 a & 0.16 \(\pm\) 0.06 a & 5.68 \(\pm\) 1.29 a & 68.96 \(\pm\) 1.34 b \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} Values were expressed as means \(\pm\) standard deviation (\(n=3\)). Different superscripts in the same column were significantly different (\(p<0.05\)).  
\end{table} 
Table 1: The proximate composition of noodles incorporated with WEM and without WEM (control). \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c} \hline \hline
**Instant Noodles** & **Dietary Fibre (\%)** \\ \hline Control & 4.06 \(\pm\) 0.34 b \\
5\% WEM & 13.30 \(\pm\) 3.06 a \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} Values were expressed as means \(\pm\) standard deviation (\(n=3\)). Different superscripts in the same column were significantly different (\(p<0.05\)).  
\end{table} 
Table 2: The dietary fibre of noodles incorporated with WEM and without WEM (control). \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c} \hline \hline  & \multicolumn{3}{c}{**Concentration of Macro Element (mg/kg dw)**} \\ \cline{2-4}  & Sodium & Potassium & Calcium & Magnesium \\ \hline WEM & 68.929 \(\pm\) 1.72 & 10,136.303 \(\pm\) 4.70 & 750.315 \(\pm\) 0.02 & 504.305 \(\pm\) 0.02 \\ \hline \hline \multicolumn{4}{c}{**Concentration of Micro Element (mg/kg dw)**} \\ \cline{2-4}  & Iron & Zinc & Manganese & Copper & Chromium & Selenium \\ \hline WEM & 32.015 \(\pm\) 0.80 & 11.499 \(\pm\) 0.29 & 3.790 \(\pm\) 0.09 & 2.104 \(\pm\) 0.07 & 0.149 \(\pm\) 0.00 & 0.131 \(\pm\) 0.00 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} Values were expressed as means \(\pm\) standard deviation (\(n=2\)); dw = dry weight.  
\end{table} 
Table 3: The mineral content of WEM (_A. cornea_). findings [41]. Likewise, the remaining trace elements have been reported in other species, such as _A. thailandica_ and _A. polytricha_[58; 59]. In summary, the trend of macro and micro-corements in the WEM powder in decreasing order is as follows: potassium \(>\) calcium \(>\) magnesium \(>\) sodium \(>\) iron \(>\) zinc \(>\) manganese \(>\) copper \(>\) selenium \(>\) chromium. Table 4 shows the mineral content of instant noodles with WEM and without WEM (control). There was a significant (\(p<0.05\)) increase in potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, and zinc content, but no significant difference (\(p>0.05\)) in the concentration of manganese, copper, and chromium, in noodles incorporated with WEM compared to the control. Moreover, the content of sodium and selenium in incorporated noodles was significantly (\(p<0.05\)) lower than the control.