Modified polyacrylamide-based cryogels were synthesized, by adding acrylic acid, allyl amine or both in the prepolymerizing solutions. These fluffy porous materials are easily humidified by water and infiltrated by glyceride. All the three polymers were catalytically active for the transesterification of glyceryl oleate. Therein the basic cryogel exhibited the highest conversion of glyceride (88.4 %) and yield of methyl oleate about 64.0 %. Certainly there is still room for improvement. Cryogel catalysts could be promising due to the inherent features of these materials: macroporous structures, adjustable hydrophilicity and hydrophobility, and flexible choice and combination of catalytic groups. [GRAPHICS] .