In order to understand the characteristics of burnt meat in cultured yellowtail Seriola quinqueradiata, fish were kept at two different temperatures (13 and 30 degrees C) and slaughtered by either spinal cord destruction (SCD) or suffocation in air (SA). Early postmortem changes during storage at 32 degrees C were analyzed by rheological, biochemical, and histological methods. The burnt meat (with lightness parameter, L* >= 55) was observed at 1-h storage in the SA 30 degrees C group, at 2 h in SCD 30 degrees C, and at 4 h in SA 13 degrees C; meat was normal for the SCD 13 degrees C group until 6 h of storage. Breaking strength scores were higher for the normal meat (200 g/cm(2)) than burnt meat (70 g/cm(2)) at 4 h of storage. Expressible water content was higher for the burnt meat than for the normal meat. Adenosine triphosphate concentrations for the SCD groups were higher than for the SA counterparts. Moreover, pH decrease was much faster in the 30 degrees C groups, showing pH 5.6 at 2 h of storage. A negative correlation between the pH and lactic acid contents in muscle (P < 0.001) was found. Histological analysis evidenced a larger pericellular area (40%) in the burnt samples than in the normal samples (16%). It was confirmed that a higher fish-keeping water temperature and a stressful slaughter method (faster glycolytic process) were determinative factors that influence the occurrence of burnt muscle in yellowtail, and that the effect of the former is larger than the latter.