Burnt meat is one of the unusual meats often occurring in tuna species. In order to reveal the biochemical properties of burnt meat in tuna, burnt meat and normal meat samples were collected to examine the quality parameter including pH, color parameters, lactic acid content, the activities of antioxidant enzymes, and the levels of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and scavenging 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radicals. The results showed pH was significantly lower in burnt meat than in normal meat, and the lactic acid content was generally higher in burnt meat. In color parameters, the L* and b* values were higher in burnt meat. Besides, the activities of antioxidant enzymes, namely, superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione reductase (GR) and catalase (CAT) in normal meat were higher than those in burnt meat. TBARS levels were significantly higher in burnt meat than in normal meat. It is thus likely that strong struggle of fish throughout catch and high water temperature induce partial inactivation of these antioxidant enzymes, resulting in free radical formation which triggers the occurrence of burnt meat. This fact could be beneficial for aquaculture and livestock industry of tunas to prevent burnt meat.