Composite heterophase poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) cryogels containing entrapped small droplets of Vaseline oil have been prepared and studied. Such oil-filled cryogels were formed via freeze-thaw treatment of freshly prepared oil-in-water emulsions containing varied volume fraction of lipophilic phase, and the influence of the amount of this phase, as well as the effects of freezing conditions on the physicomechanical (shear moduli) and thermal (gel fusion temperature and fusion enthalpy) characteristics of resulting composites have been explored. It was shown that over certain range of PVA concentrations in aqueous phase and a range of volume fraction of the hydrophobic phase its microdroplets performed as "active" fillers causing an increase in both the gel strength and the heat endurance of composites. The light microscopy data on the morphological features of such filled PVA cryogels revealed the effect of diminution in size of oil droplets entrapped in the gel matrix as compared with the initial emulsions. This effect can be explained by the disintegrating action of crushing and shear stresses arising upon the system freezing and growth of ice crystals. The oil-filled PVA cryogels were found to be capable of gradually releasing the lipophilic constituents (the Rose hips oil, in this case) in response to the cyclic mechanical compression. (C) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 117: 1332-1349, 2010