JSFiddle - React, Tailwind, and code Playground

HTML

<table >
 <tbody>
  <tr>
   <td>
    <i>MYVAL</i>  <!-- I want the reference to this element-->
     <i>MYVALd</i>
     <i>MYVAL</i>
   <td>
     </tr>
 </tbody>
</table>

JavaScript

$('table tbody tr td i').filter(function(){return $(this).text() == "MYVAL"}).css('background-color', 'red');