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To produce new polysaccharide-based materials, we have noted ionic liquids, which are low-melting point salts and liquid at temperatures below the boiling point of water. Because ionic liquids have been recently found to be used as solvents for natural polysaccharides such as cellulose, and accordingly, can be considered to have a specific affinity for polysaccharides, efficient methods to produce new polysaccharide-based materials are developed using ionic liquids to lead to the practical use of natural polysaccharides as the promising biomass resources. As our recent topics are related to the above research area, in this paper, the preparation of chitin- and galactomannan-based functional materials and self-assembled chitin nanofibers using ionic liquids was reviewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]