# Allomelanin: A Promising Alternative to Polydopamine for Bioapplications

## TL;DR

This review explores allomelanin, a natural pigment from fungi, as a promising alternative to polydopamine for various bioapplications.

## Contribution

The paper provides a comprehensive overview of allomelanin's properties and potential applications, emphasizing its underexplored potential.

## Key findings

- Allomelanin exhibits optical and antioxidant properties useful for bioapplications.
- Its natural biosynthetic processes can guide the design of new materials.
- Allomelanin shows potential in human health and materials science.

## Abstract

Allomelanin is a natural class of melanin found mainly in fungi and derived from nitrogen-free precursors such as 1,8-dihydroxynaphthalene (1,8-DHN). Despite its biological relevance, allomelanin remains significantly less explored than other synthetic melanin analogs, particularly compared to polydopamine, a synthetic analog of eumelanin. In this review, we provide a comprehensive overview of current knowledge on allomelanin, summarizing the main methods used to characterize its molecular structure, morphology, and chemical functionalities. We also present its emerging applications, ranging from human health to materials science, highlighting how its optical characteristics, ability to modulate redox processes, and antioxidant properties support its growing technological interest. Finally, we describe the natural presence and biological role of allomelanin, highlighting how knowledge of its biosynthetic processes and functions in nature can guide more effective strategies for the design and optimization of new allomelanin materials.