Background Olives dropped on the ground naturally sometimes are not separated from those fresh and healthy collected from the tree for harvest and processing. In this work we compared the quality, ethanol content and bioactive components of virgin olive oils from ground‐picked olives, tree‐picked fruits and their mixture. Results Ground‐picked olives produced ‘Lampante’ virgin olive oils; these are of a lower quality category, because of important alterations in chemical and sensory characteristics. Ethyl esters showed the highest values, although under the regulated limit. The mixture of ground and tree‐picked olives gave oils classified as ‘virgin’ because of sensory defects, although the quality parameters did not exceed the limits for the ‘extra’ category. Ethanol content showed a significant increase in the oils from ground‐ picked olives and their mixture with respect to those from tree‐picked fruits. Furthermore, bioactive compounds showed a significant decrease as fruit quality was poorer. Conclusion Ground‐picked olives must be harvested and processed separately since they produce low‐quality virgin olive oils with sensory defects and lower concentrations of bioactive compounds. The higher acidity and ethanol concentration observed in oils from ground‐picked fruits or their mixture may help ethyl ester synthesis during storage. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry