Traditional consumption modes of fruits from the genus „Crataegus“ in the Pirot District (southeastern Serbia)

Forest fruit trees are important natural resources. Тhey participate in the forest plant communities, in which they usually have an edifying role. Forest fruit trees produce highquality 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 the genus Crataegus are commonly known as hawthorns. The study on the traditional knowledge and use of of the forest fruit trees 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 folowing plant species as wild forest fruit trees 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 tree 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 tree 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 tree 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 trees 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 drink colled “rakija” (3 reports) from fruits of common hartworn. 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 can 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.