**4. Processing and Innovations in Azaphilones Production**

Over the last decade, many studies have focused attention on optimizing production of pigments and growth of different fungal species. Many variables that affect the production, as fermentation process (submerged fermentation, solid-state fermentation, larger scale), culture media composition (carbon and nitrogen source, C/N ratio, co-factors, surfactants, tricarboxylic acid intermediates), inoculum type and age (spores and mycelium), temperature, pH, oxygen level and agitation; light, humidity, pigment recovery, extraction, and isolation have been critically discussed by recent reviews [11,31,67–69]. Some related aspects of production, processing and innovations in azaphilones production published in 2020 and up to March 2021 are highlighted below.
