The properties of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hydrogels containing saccharose were examined. The effect of the addition of saccharose to atactic PVA (a-PVA) gels on their melting temperatures was larger than that for syndiotacticity-rich PVA (s-PVA) gels and the melting temperature was above 100 degrees C for a-PVA gels with saccharose contents of 60 wt %. However, the fusion enthalpy (Delta H) of the a-PVA gels was at most 100 kJ/mol. The release of solvent (water/saccharose) from gels in air decreased with an increase in the saccharose content and the equilibrium was achieved after standing for 20 days for the a-PVA and s-PVA gels with saccharose contents above 40 and 20 wt %, respectively.