JSFiddle - React, Tailwind, and code Playground
HTML
<select id="myDDL">
<option selected="selected" value="0">default</option>
<option value="1">apples</option>
<option value="2">oranges</option>
</select>
JavaScript
setFieldValue("myDDL", "apples");
function setFieldValue(field, value)
{
var val = $("#" + field + " option[text]");
console.log(val);
$("#" + field).val(val);
}