We report on the radiative emission decay dynamics of a less known, gamma-phase manganese selenide quantum dot system (MnSe QDs) subjected to bio-functionalization. A short-ligand thioglycolic acid (TGA), and a long-chain sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) surfactants were used as surface anchors prior bioconjugation with albumin proteins (BSA). Time resolved photoluminescence (TR-PL) spectra of the QDs have revealed bi-exponential decay trends with the fast (T-1) and slow (T-2) decay parameters assigned to the core state recombination and surface trapped excitons; respectively. The average lifetime (T-avg) was found to get shortened from a value of similar to 0.87 ns-0.72 ns in unconjugated and BSA conjugated MnSe-TGA QDs; respectively. Conversely, MnSe-SDS QDs with BSA conjugation exhibited nearly four-fold enhancement of Tavg with respect to its unconjugated counterpart. Moreover, a considerable amount of Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET) was found to occur from the TGA coated MnSe QDs to BSA and with an ensuing efficiency of similar to 61%. The origin of anomalous carrier life-time relaxation features has also been encountered through a simplified model as regards head group interaction experienced by the MnSe QDs with different surfactant types. Exploiting luminescence decay characteristics of a magneto-fluorescent candidate could find immense scope in diverse biological applications including assays, labeling and imaging. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.