**5. Potential Applications of Azaphilones outside Food Sector**

As in the food industry, azo dyes represent the most widely used chemical class of dyes in textiles production, an industrial sector that requires high amounts of stable colorants/pigments [111]. Textiles dying quality is also highly important for market competitiveness and consumer identification and public opinion have been driving an increase demand for natural pigments to replace synthetic dyes. In addition, change is necessary to avoid chronic effects in workers exposed to hazardous synthetic dyes during industrial processes. Once present in clothes, aromatic amines can be biotransformed by skin bacteria into aromatic amines, many of which are carcinogenic and can be absorbed by human skin [112]. Non-regulated aromatic amines were detected in a substantial number of colored textiles in a survey done in Switzerland raising questions on genotoxicity, dyes purity, consumer health risks, release of dyestuffs and dermo absorption [113]. Last, but not least, environmental pollution by effluents from textile industry cause multiple environmental harms.

Textile market can absorb some microbial dyes excluded from food applications by regulatory agencies [19]. Toxicity issues and growing preference for natural goods reached clothing sector and many brands are adapting themselves to meet the expectations for sustainable products. This demand increased, especially in millennials and Z-Generation group, as statistics proved to be alarming in global scale in terms of gas emission by textile industry, water contamination and pollution with industrial dyes [114,115]. Modern demands have been raising integrated practices, as well as international networks and partnerships to address sustainability issues and to look for solutions in the textile and clothing industry [115]. This behavior applies to the low-income clothing producing/exporting countries as well as the buyers' international market. The latter can impose restrictions to imported products containing artificial dyes that either are rejected or avoided by consumers due to the awareness of the unsustainable effluents generated in producing countries.

Cosmetics sector is another market that may incorporate azaphilone compounds in the future. Development of new strategies for on line sales, digital advice, and decentralization of distribution centers helped some cosmetic chains to grow even with the world economic problems associated to the COVID-19 pandemic [116]. The global cosmetics industry was valuated in over USD 380 billion in 2019 and is projected to reach USD 463 billion by 2027 [117]. Several facts contributed to the massive growth of this segment in the last period, such as increase in sale of personal care products, conquering an expressive number of male consumers, increasing number of make-up tutorials in social media and the search for well-being taking into consideration the connection of cosmetics and self-esteem increase [118]. It is also noteworthy that a new type of cosmetics is increasingly growing, named cosmeceuticals. Although regulation of cosmeceuticals was not fully addressed, these products claim biological effects beyond cosmetic utility and many times are referred as cosmetic-pharmaceuticals hybrids.

This expansion in cosmetic market was accompanied by the aforementioned conscientious choice of safe, natural, and "not tested on animals" products [119]. Cosmetics and personal care products are usually directly applied to the skin in a daily basis, many times associated to active ingredients to facilitate fastening or product penetration over the skin. Therefore, allergy and long-term toxicity have also been driving huge efforts for modernization in this area. In this way, long-lasting innovative natural color sources are also an important goal of cosmetics industry. Azaphilone metabolites comprise an important part of the color pallet required by cosmetic industry and their reported biological effects make these compounds also good active components for cosmeceuticals formulations. Anti-inflammatory activity, related for some azaphilone [37,51] is a mechanism associated with anti-aging dermo-cosmetics [120], while antimicrobial activity [46] associated to color pigments can be helpful to extend shelf life of cosmetics.
