A simple single-stage method, based on refluxing edible carrot with aqueous trisodium phosphate (TSP) has been reported to synthesize blue color luminescent carbon dots (CDs). Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) image showed that CDs are almost spherical in shape and the size is around 3–8 nm. Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) and 1 H NMR spectroscopy study revealed that the carbohydrates present in the carrot undergone carbonization to produce luminescent CDs. Optimization study indicate that refluxing 5 g of carrot in 80 mM TSP aqueous solution for 120 min is adequate to produce highly luminescent blue CDs. The CDs produced are used as luminophore to image bacteria through fluorescence microscopy. CDs have membrane good permeability and minimum toxicity against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. The CDs capability for direct reduction of silver ions to elemental silver (Ag 0 ) and gold ions to elemental gold (Au 0 ) without additional reducing and stabilizing agent was demonstrated. The resulting Ag and Au nanoparticles have a size of 8–22 nm and 5–15 nm, respectively. The catalytic activity of nanoparticles in the hydrogenation reaction was investigated. The results suggest that the nanoparticles had high catalytic activity in the sodium borohydride mediated hydrogenation of nitroaromatic compounds. © 2019 Elsevier B.V.