Ionic liquid-based carbon dots as highly biocompatible and sensitive fluorescent probe for the determination of vitamin P in fruit samples

•The application of ionic liquid-based carbon dots in the determination of vitamin P in food samples was first developed.•Fluorescent probes exhibited excellent optical properties and biocompatibility.•The method has high sensitivity and selectivity, and the detection limit is much lower than other methods.•The UV–vis absorption spectra, FT-IR spectra, Parker equation, and fluorescence lifetime were researched to explore the fluorescence quenching mechanism.•The synthesized carbon dots can be used for cell imaging and are expected to be excellent potential bioimaging agents.