JSFiddle - React, Tailwind, and code Playground

HTML

<nav id="main-nav">
	<ul>
		<li class="selected" id="topMenu0">
			audi
			<ul id="topMenuUL0" style="display: block;">
				<li id="topMenuUL0LI0" class="selected">bmw</li>
				<li id="topMenuUL0LI1" class="">mercedes</li>
				<li id="topMenuUL0LI2" class="">ferrari</li>
				<li id="topMenuUL0LI3" class="">porsche</li>
			</ul>
		</li>

		<li class="" id="topMenu1">
			site
			<ul id="topMenuUL1" style="display: none;">
				<li id="topMenuUL1LI0">traffic</li>
				<li id="topMenuUL1LI1">ped</li>
				<li id="topMenuUL1LI2">l3</li>
			</ul>
		</li>
	</ul>
</nav>


<c:forEach items="${v}" var="item">
   										 ${item}
									</c:forEach>

JavaScript

$(document).ready(function(){
            $('li').each(function(index) {
            var v=$(this).contents().filter(function(){ return this.nodeType==3}).text();
     alert(v);
    });
        });