2025 Nikolić, Biljana M. Eremija, Saša M. Češljar, Goran D. Lučić, Aleksandar Ž. Marković, Marija S. Konatar, Snežana R. Ćirković-Mitrović, Tatjana T. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode application/pdf 3983498 bytes Keywords: forest fruit trees, Pirot District, Crataegus laevigata, Crataegus monogyna, Crataegus pentagyna, modes of consumption eng srp Abstract: Forest fruit trees are important natural resources. Тhey participate in the construction of forest plant communities in which they usually have an edifying role. They produce quality fruits with high nutritional value, which can be used for food, and most of them are often used for industrial processing. The trees and shrubs from the family Rosaceae, which belongs to genus Crataegus are commonly known as hawthorns. The study on the traditional knowledge and use of the forest fruit species was conducted in the form of a population survey. The questionnaire included 633 respondents from 144 villages in the four municipalities of the Pirot District: Pirot, Babušnica, Bela Palanka, and Dimitrovgrad. According to the questionnaire, hawthorn was mentioned by 159 respondents, or 25.12% of the total number of respondents. Тhe use of the following plant species as wild forest fruit species was recorded: C. laevigata (Poiret) DC. (syn. C. oxyacantha L.) (24 reports), C. monogyna Jacq. (98 reports), and C. pentagyna Waldst. & Kit. ex Willd. (37 reports). C. laevigata (folk name "crveni glog"), has been mentioned as forest fruit species in the study area by 24 respondents, of which 12 were men, and 12 were women, and 20 were Serbs, while 4 were Bulgarians. C. monogyna (folk name "beli glog", „glog“, "glođinja"), has been mentioned as forest fruit species by 98 respondents, of which 58 were men, and 40 were women, and 80 were Serbs, 15 were Bulgarians, and 3 were Roma. C. pentagyna (folk name "crni glog"), has been mentioned as forest fruit species by 37 respondents, of which 18 were men, and 19 were women, and 32 were Serbs, while 5 were Bulgarians. The seasons in which hawthorn fruits are collected are late summer and early autumn. Together with other forest fruits species in the Pirot District, the fruits of the three mentioned hawthorn species are cooked for compotes (153 reports). The smaller number of informants have been prepared liqueurs (2 reports), as well as homemade alcoholic beverage "rakija" (3 reports) from fruits of common hawthorns. During the survey, only one respondent stated that common hawthorn seeds were used as a coffee substitute. The respondents were not mentioned the use of unprocessed (fresh) fruits. The consumption of raw, unprocessed hawthorn fruits should be avoided, due to the content of some thermolabile substances that affect the heart. The preparation process in cooking the fruits of plant species C. laevigata, C. monogyna, and C. pentagyna for compotes can be considered as novelties of our study, because this mode of consumption was not mentioned in ethnobotanical studies in the neighboring regions on the Balkan Peninsula. The mentioned plant species from genus Crataegus are on the list of protected species in Serbia, so it is necessary to rationally collect their fruits and market them. Ethnobotany : book of abstracts / Third conference about medicinal and wild-growing edible plants, Pirot, Serbia, June 26 - 28. 2025. startpage: 71 endpage: 73 info:eu-repo/semantics/conferenceProceedings https://unilib.phaidrabg.rs/o:8773 ISBN: 978-86-903786-2-3 Traditional consumption modes of fruits from the genus Crataegus in the Pirot District (southeastern Serbia) Истраживачко друштво "Бабин нос", Темска, Пирот, Институт за шумарство, Београд, Штампарија "Свен", Ниш