JSFiddle - React, Tailwind, and code Playground
HTML
<div id="mydiv" data-test='{"1":"apple", "2":"banana"}'>Custom Data</div>
JavaScript
$('#mydiv').data('test')["1"] = "pear";
alert($('#mydiv').data('test')["1"])
<div id="mydiv" data-test='{"1":"apple", "2":"banana"}'>Custom Data</div>
$('#mydiv').data('test')["1"] = "pear";
alert($('#mydiv').data('test')["1"])