## 3 Results and Discussion
### Glycaemic Index
In contrast to one other study, the incorporation of WEM powder did not increase the protein content of instant noodles, which might not contribute to the integrity of protein network in the noodles [65]. Notably, decades of extensive studies have attempted to link certain elements to the modulation of glucose homeostasis [75]. Meanwhile, other studies suggested the hypoglycaemic effect of WEM could be mediated via the polysaccharide interaction with insulin receptors on target  
Figure 2: The comparison of postprandial blood glucose response within 120 min between control and 5% WEM instant noodles (\(n=10\)), * indicates a significant difference (\(p<0.05\)). tissues, and partially exhibited via modulation of the anti-oxidative system, but limited knowledge is available to confirm the mechanism [20,76]. Nevertheless, study findings have revealed that adding 5% of WEM powder to noodles could lower the glucose spike, demonstrating the hypoglycaemic effect among consumers. The glycaemic response was further calculated to obtain the incremental area under the curve (IAUC) for each respondent, which reflected the changes in blood glucose levels within two hours. The mean of IAUC between reference and test foods showed a significant difference (\(p\) = 0.008). Meanwhile, there was no significant difference in the mean of IAUC between both test food (incorporated noodles with 5% WEM and control). The mean of IAUC of reference food was the highest at 269.83 mmol.min/L, while the mean IAUC of the test food was 196.43 mmol.min/L and 179.78 mmol.min/L for control and incorporated noodles, respectively. Moreover, for a valid GI measurement and high accuracy of GI value, the coefficient variation of reference food should be lower than 30% and for this study, the coefficient variation of reference food that was repeated three times was 15.31%, which was lower than the recommended value [31]. Therefore, the GI value of control noodles containing 50 g of available carbohydrates was high (GI = 75.84), whereas the GI for instant noodles incorporated with 5% WEM were moderate (GI = 68.91). The GI value of food can be influenced by various factors, particularly methodological and human factors, which are crucial for glycaemic analysis [31,77]. The moderate GI value of 5% WEM noodles indicated that the blood glucose concentration increased moderately within 2 h. Most noodles have been categorized as low GI foods because the digestion process of noodles is slower and incomplete compared to other starch-based foods such as white bread [18]. One of the factors for the discrepancy is the different types of flour used in making instant noodles, where a higher amylose or fibre content can influence the digestibility rate and glycaemic response, resulting in a low GI instant noodle [78]. In addition, food processing can cause physical alterations in the starch structure and promote starch digestibility, but some studies have postulated that the step-in noodle processing, such as mixing, sheeting, and extruding, may cause the protein matrix to continuously entrap starch granules and limit the starch hydrolysis [79]. In addition, the retrogradation process during cooling may increase resistant starch, resulting in low GI food [80]. In a glycaemic study, the control of blood glucose level proves to have a huge benefit for a diabetic patient while it also could lower the risk of cardiovascular heart disease and help in weight management for a healthy individual [81,82]. Nevertheless, this study successfully utilised WEM powder as a functional ingredient in instant noodles and exhibited a hypoglycaemic effect among study participants.